Stevenage indie Cardies crowned most dog-friendly shop for third time
The Ponks have proved to be totally paw-some as the Cardies’ pack has helped indie retailer Jo Sorrell lift the Most Dog-Friendly Shop award for the second time.
Orberry was on paw to pick up the trophy on Wednesday, 7 December, on behalf of his fellow rescue Labradors Bella, Big Ben, and Little Ted – oh yes, with a wee bit of help from his hoomans Jo and partner Andy McReynolds to make sure he arrived safely at The Kennel Club in London.
“Orberry Strawberry superstar,” Jo crowed, “he was obviously best in show! We are super proud to have been voted the Best Dog Friendly shop, a huge thank you to all our fantastic customers who took the time to vote for us and support us, we really do appreciate it.
“Being a dog-friendly shop is very important to us. How lucky are we to be able to combine our love of dogs with our love of cards, a perfect match!”
For this year’s competition Cardies in Stevenage was up against fellow greetings store Austin & Co from Malvern, and Aylesbury’s Friars Square Shopping Centre as finalists in one of 15 categories in the awards.
And Cardies was delighted to make it a hat trick of victories, having also twice been finalists previously, with Orberry, Jo and Andy stepping up to accept the trophy from CBBC presenter Katie Thistleton, who hosted the event.
Having been a dog-friendly shop since Jo opened the doors way back in 1988, Orberry is her sixth Labrador meeter and greeter for Cardies, also living at home with Bella, Big Ben, and Little Ted, who she’s given the collective name of The Ponks and they all help in the shop.
As The Ponks often feature in her social media posts, it’s no surprise that Orberry was straight on Facebook after yesterday’s win: “Super proud! Strawb only went and won the most Dog-Friendly shop award. Hooman put me on a train, in a black cab, made me wait for ages at a posh dog place called The Kennel Club, met a nice lady called @katiethistleton, had lots of pictures taken – phewy, I finks I deserves an award for being such a good boy!”
Top: Orberry with Jo and Andy Sorrell and Cardies’ third Most Dog-Friendly Shop trophy
