When Corri Langlois opened Gastro Pup in downtown Bremerton, she wasn’t just launching another pet supply shop. She was building the kind of community she’d been missing—one built around pets, relationships, and the belief that most people are doing the best they can for the animals they love.
When Corri Langlois opened Gastro Pup in downtown Bremerton, she wasn’t just launching another pet supply shop. She was building the kind of community she’d been missing—one built around pets, relationships, and the belief that most people are doing the best they can for the animals they love.
“I’ve worked in the pet specialty industry pretty much since I started working,” Langlois said. She began as a dog bather back in 2004, and that early job sparked what she describes as a growing obsession with dog nutrition and wellness.
Over the years, she managed other people’s pet stores, worked for a major independent retailer, and then joined a pet food distributor doing outside sales across Washington. The job took her to “every pet store in the state,” she said, and while she loved visiting shops, she hated the isolation and the long hours away from her two kids.
“I missed the community you have when you work in a store every day,” she said. “I’d go into stores to help them, and I’d end up helping customers instead of selling products. I just wanted to be on the floor, talking to people about their pets.”
When COVID hit, the strain became even more personal. Her son was about to start kindergarten; her younger child was just a year old. With schools closed and daycare unavailable, she stepped back from retail to stay home and do online kindergarten.
“It was the longest and hardest year of my life,” she said. “I love my kids, but I am not a stay-at-home mom and I’m not a teacher of small children.”
That difficult year clarified what she did want: to return to work in a way that made sense for her family and her values. With encouragement from her husband—“chief among” her supporters, she noted—and other industry friends, she began to think seriously about opening her own store.
At the time, she realized Bremerton didn’t have an independent pet store. “There was nothing within 10 miles in any direction,” she said. “There was this vacuum of need.”
She started building a business plan and looking at spaces downtown. When she found Gastro Pup’s current location, it clicked.
“I fell in love with those big display windows downstairs,” she said. “I wanted to make it happen—and we did.”
What’s in a Name?
The name Gastro Pup was born at home.
“It was actually my husband who thought of it,” Langlois said. “It’s kind of a play on words. A gastropub serves high-end, premium foods, and I’ve always said the gut is the foundation of all health. So it’s like gastro—your gut—and pup, like a dog. Gastro Pup is where you get the good stuff.”
She loved it immediately. “It’s cute, it’s memorable, and it reflects exactly what we’re trying to do,” she said.
Shelves Full of “Good Stuff”
Step inside Gastro Pup and you won’t just find conventional treats and toys. You’ll see pig snouts, heads, tracheas, and an array of other body parts—a reflection of Langlois’s commitment to whole, species-appropriate foods and chews.
“We have more body parts for dogs and cats to chew on than I think any store,” she said with a laugh. “Most people go, ‘Ew,’ but it’s the best.”
Behind the scenes, the product selection is anything but random.
“We look for things that are unique and really well made, and we want transparency from those brands,” she said. “We ask: Why did you choose this ingredient? Where are you sourcing it? Can we visit the facility?”
Langlois and her team have toured manufacturing plants and grilled brands about their processes.
“We only bring in products we’d be willing to feed our own animals,” she said. “There has to be a willingness from those companies to be open about what they do and why they do it.”
Listening First, Then Helping
If Gastro Pup has a secret weapon, it’s the way customers are treated. For Langlois, personalized, one-on-one service starts with something basic: time.
“It’s time, it’s listening, it’s making sure people are being heard and validated,” she said.
She rejects the idea of a one-size-fits-all solution.
“There is no one product that works for every living creature,” she said. “Instead of smiling and nodding and waiting for someone to finish so we can recommend what we think is best, we ask questions and really delve into what their issues are. We’re striving to find a solution—not just sell whatever is ‘hot’ right now.”
That approach builds the sense of small, neighborhood community that she missed while on the road as a sales rep.
“I’d say I know about 75 percent of the people who walk in by name,” she said. “That’s what I want when I go shopping—I want to feel like I’m part of it. And that’s what we have here.”
Competing by Being Different
In an era when pet owners can order almost anything online—often at lower prices—Langlois is realistic about what she can and can’t do.
“I can’t compete on price with the major brands, and I can’t really compete on volume,” she said. “So I don’t expect to.”
Instead, Gastro Pup intentionally stocks products the big players don’t carry and leans into education and service.
“We focus on smaller brands and niches, and on what we can offer that they don’t,” she said. “The experience is totally different here than online.”
The stakes are higher for customers now, too.
“Times are tough, and people want more for less,” she said. “A decade ago, people would come in asking, ‘What’s your most expensive, best product?’ I don’t see that anymore. Now it’s about balancing value with quality, and we try to help people find that balance.”
A Store Built by and for Community
From the start, Gastro Pup has been rooted in its neighborhood. Even before opening, curious passersby peeked through papered windows, eager to see what was coming.
“People were so excited,” Langlois said. “They told me, ‘We need this.’”
That early enthusiasm has grown into strong community support. Nearby business owners have offered help, and Gastro Pup has built partnerships with the local food bank and Collar of Hope, donating pet food and supplies.
“It’s hard to get pet food into the hands of people who really need it,” she said.
For Langlois, the most meaningful moments often happen beyond the shop.
“If I can give food or a jacket to someone who needs it, that’s everything,” she said. “That animal means so much to them. Making sure it gets to eat—that matters.”
Parenting, Entrepreneurship, and a Store That Feels Like Family
When Gastro Pup opened, Langlois’s youngest child was three. He came to work with her every day.
“There’s a room downstairs that we keep our cans in now, but that was his playroom,” she said. “He was there every step of the way.”
Balancing parenting with running a six-day-a-week business has been one of her biggest challenges.
“Unless you’re a parent or a small business owner—or both at the same time—you don’t fully understand what it’s like to work that much and always have a child with you,” she said. “I worried he was being shortchanged, not getting to play with other kids his age.”
Over time, she realized he was building a different kind of childhood: one filled with customers, dogs, and a rotating cast of familiar faces.
“He’s got friends he’s met here who still come in,” she said. “They come through the door and it’s like, ‘Oh, Linda’s here!’”
Gastro Pup is, in many ways, a family business. Her kids still spend time in the shop. Her niece helped build out the space and has worked there. And the staff itself feels like an extended family.
Looking Ahead: More Space, More Services, Same Heart
Even as Gastro Pup settles into its identity—last year, the store was voted Best Pet Store in Kitsap County, a milestone Langlois calls a “dream come true”—she’s already thinking about what’s next.
“I need more room,” she said.
Her vision for the future includes expanding the store’s footprint, but not abandoning its downtown roots.
“I don’t want to move far from where we are,” she said. “I just want to get a little bit bigger so we can offer a little bit more.”
That might include closer partnerships with dog trainers and additional services that complement the store’s nutrition and retail focus.
Whatever changes come, she’s determined to hold on to the sense of joy that first drew her into the industry.
“I used to joke, ‘If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong,’” Langlois said. “And I realized—it’s not a joke. That’s real life. If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.”
Most days, she still doesn’t want to leave.
“I look forward every single day to walking through these doors,” she said. “And I’m a little bit sad when I go home, because I’m like, ‘Oh, I was having so much fun.’”
In Bremerton, Gastro Pup is more than a pet store. It’s a place where nutrition is taken seriously, pets are treated like family, and the humans who love them are reminded that doing their best is enough.
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