Case studyWeb Development
Petoria
A one-groomer boutique studio needed a website as calm and considered as the salon itself - live at petoria.ca.
- Year
- 2026
- Client
- Petoria
- Services
- UX/UI Design · Website Development
- Status
- Live
01Brief
What we were asked
A warm, editorial website for a boutique pet grooming salon and cage-free pet hotel in NE Calgary - live at petoria.ca.
02Challenge
Why it was hard
Petoria is a one-groomer boutique studio with a strong philosophy: one pet at a time, two private rooms, European cosmetics, and a cage-free home-style Pet Camp instead of kennels. Most pet-business websites are loud template affairs with stock paw prints - exactly the wrong signal for a studio whose entire pitch is calm, patience, and craft.
The site also had real operational work to do. Pet Camp boarding starts with an application and a meet-and-greet before any booking is confirmed, which is unusual and needs explaining without scaring families away. Grooming services span dogs, cats, and add-ons like the Pet Taxi, each with its own pricing logic. And as a local business, everything hangs on Calgary search visibility and the trust signals - reviews, galleries, credentials - that convince someone to hand over a family member.
03The Build
Scroll through the product
01First impression
Type that speaks softly
The homepage opens with oversized editorial type - 'Where pets are family, and grooming is a craft' - a warm cream palette, and real client pets. No stock photos, no shouting, exactly the salon's bedside manner in pixels.
02Grooming
The service page as a promise
'Grooming, done quietly' leads with the four facts nervous owners care about: one pet at a time, two private rooms, European cosmetics, and honest session lengths - then walks through each service with real pricing.
03Pet Camp
A vacation, not a kennel
The boarding page sells the cage-free difference: a home-style stay for one family at a time, told through photos of past campers lounging on actual sofas and grass.
04Enroll
Unusual process, made friendly
Boarding requires an application, a meet-and-greet, and a deposit before any dates are confirmed. The three-step layout turns that screening into a story about care - 'three small steps before vacation' - instead of a wall of rules.
05Trust
Five stars, verified
The reviews page leads with the studio's 5.0 Google rating and verified testimonials, and the gallery backs it with four years of grooms and campers - the proof a family needs before handing over the leash.
04Notes
How it runs
We designed and built the site around editorial typography: oversized headlines with italic serif accents carry the brand voice ('Where pets are family, and grooming is a craft'), a warm cream palette with a single terracotta accent, and photography of real client pets rather than stock imagery. A dark mode and playful paw-print details keep it personable without tipping into cute.
The information architecture mirrors the business: grooming split by dogs, cats, and extras with transparent pricing; the Pet Camp explained through a three-step enrollment flow - application form, meet-and-greet trial session, then official enrollment with deposit - so the unusual process reads as care, not friction. The reviews page leads with the studio's 5.0 Google rating and verified testimonials, and the gallery organizes four years of work by grooming and camp.
Built on Next.js with TypeScript and Tailwind CSS, deployed on AWS with CloudFront. WhatsApp contact is one tap away on every page, clients have their own login, and the whole site is optimized for the local searches - pet grooming and pet boarding in NE Calgary - that actually bring Petoria its campers.
Stack
05Outcome
Where it landed
- Status
- Live
- In production at petoria.ca
- Rating shown
- 5.0
- Google reviews, front and center
- Services
- 3 lines
- Grooming, Pet Camp boarding, Pet Taxi
- Enrollment
- 3 steps
- Application, meet & greet, deposit
06Craft
The work behind the work
More of the live site: the gallery - 'Four years, a thousand good boys and girls' - the About page that introduces Lizzie and the studio's philosophy, the cat grooming page with its quieter-space promise, the spa add-ons menu, the help-center FAQ, and the booking page that promises a real human on the other end.
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