Maria Announces That She’s Doggone…

Just as Max gets over the fact that his petition to have Sandymount Strand moved to Greystones was a non-runner, the world’s greatest Guide dog is back on change.org this morning.

Thanks to the rather life-shattering news that the bould Maria Sweeney is going to hang up her dog grooming apron at the end of this year.

Starting a new venture, the lady is going to be missed, and not just by Max and co, but by all those canine companions who frequented Vanity Fur, Maria’s dog grooming HQ on Theatre Lane a place where four-legged scruffs walked in and Crufts winners sauntered out.

There were enough people reeling at Maria’s announcement last night that the Vanity Fur website buckled under the traffic. So, for any of you who may not have had a chance to read that heartfelt farewell note, here it is…

And So The End is Near, and Now We Face…The Final Furtain

The Only Constant in Life is Change, as a small, big bellied wise statue once said… or was it Heraclitus? I’m not sure, someone else can fight over that, but whoever it was they were right. And so, the time has come for me to move on to the next chapter, and depart from the world of dog grooming, as we face the final fur-tain at the end of this year.

Vanity Fur has been my life blood for the last 5 years, and what an amazing (and hairy) journey it’s been, but for some time now I’ve had the sense that it might be time to work on something new. I’m a big believer in trusting your gut and going with what feels right, even if it’s a scary leap and very possibly not the most sensible one, but wouldn’t life be boring if we didn’t take risks and mix it up from time to time?

While I have decided to move on, I really hope to pass my beloved salon premises to the next generation of Greystones dog groomer. I couldn’t bear the thought of our doors closing and opening up again in the New Year as another coffee shop or office, and Theatre Lane is the most incredible, quirky, vibrant location a business owner in the town could hope for – from our neighbours, our landlord, to even our very own gardener Charlie!

SO, I am putting the call out for someone to take the dog grooming baton, put their own name above the door (I’m keeping mine, if for no other reason than to continue to be able to share cute and funny social media posts with you all), and their own stamp on the grooming services of Greystones village. And by God do we need a groomers in the town! I can’t keep up with the demand for spa treatments by the doggy population around here, they get more pampering than their owners, so the next groomer who comes along will need to be ready to hit the ground running!

Our salon is beautifully kitted out (well, as beautiful as a salon can be with a constant revolving door of wet dogs!) and ready to service the dogs of our town so I do so hope that someone out there is looking for a new chapter in their life, and that grooming the many thousands of dogs of Greystones is an exciting new prospect for someone. I always thought a wash and blow dry bar would work well (selfishly because I really need somewhere local to bring my two when they roll in something gross, as is their penchant) …. Hopefully fate will step in and the right person will come along, so we don’t need to interrupt service, but either way I wanted to let you all know I will be hanging up my scissors after Christmas.

I’ve deliberately kept this post functional so that I don’t do a Gwyneth Paltrow circa 1999 at the Oscars and start thanking everyone and crying all over my keyboard – I’ll save that for closer to the time, but for now I will say this has been one of the most emotional decisions of my life and I’m really going to need you all to still let me stop and say hello to your dog on the street even when I’m not their groomer anymore because So long story short, it’s business as usual at Vanity Fur for now, but I will be following up with details of our leasehold sale and praying that it’s a groomer who steps up and takes it from here. We owe it to our dogs to make sure Starbucks don’t get their paws on the place..

With Much Love

Maria x

And there you have it. Christmas will come hurtling around like a sudden blast of snow, and when it’s gone, so will our Maria. Now, go sign Max’s petition right here.