A little over two years ago, Annette Weishaar, a long-time executive at Caesars Entertainment, began rethinking her career.
Caesars and El Dorado Resorts had just announced a merger agreement. Weishaar expected changes in the near future.
After more than 25 years in the company, which began as an administrative assistant in her mid-twenties, Weishaar began to explore elsewhere, even in search of a change.
After Weishaar connected and shared her love for animals with a franchise consultant on LinkedIn on a whim, she opened a Pet Supplies Plus store in the Mountain’s Edge neighborhood of Las Vegas.
After a few months of delay, Weishaar finally received the keys to her new shop on Blue Diamond Road in April. This weekend the store is hosting a major opening event with prize draws and sales prizes.
“We can hardly wait to start looking after the community and get to know the local pets better here,” said Weishaar.
Pet Supplies Plus, which has 560 locations in 36 states, offers “a wide variety of natural pet foods, merchandise and services at low prices,” according to a company press release. Weishaars store is the first in Nevada.
It’s a big change for Weishaar, a former Vice President of Partnerships at Caesars Entertainment. It has evolved from arranging business with the NFL and Norwegian cruise lines to selling food and toys to meeting new people and pets. But it made it possible for her to do something she had wanted to do for a long time.
“I loved my job; it was really one of the best jobs ever, ”said Weishaar. “I went there with a heart full of gratitude. It enabled me to do something myself. But I always thought, gosh, I’d like to run my own business. “
Now she can interact with people and work with her two children, Caiden and Alexa. It’s a lot of white hair after a quarter of a century in a corporate setting.
“Of course it’s stressful in its way,” she said on Friday. “When you get into this environment, it’s kind of a stress hamster wheel. It will never stop. This is of course slower and I have more control over my own fate. “
Pet Supplies Plus Las Vegas is located at 8045 Blue Diamond Road. The shop is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Contact Dylan Svoboda at dsvoboda@reviewjournal.com. Follow @dylanksvoboda on Twitter.
