Former Main Line Rite Aid will become a luxury pet resort

A luxury pet hotel is coming to the heart of the Main Line.

The latest location of K9 Resorts is set to open later this summer in Wayne, at the site of the closed Rite Aid on the 600 block of West Lancaster Avenue, near Devon.

So add dog resort to the growing list of potential uses for the dozens of former Rite Aids that sit vacant across the region after the Philly-based company’s second bankruptcy. All of its pharmacies are set to close soon.

By the time K9 Resorts opens, the shuttered drugstore’s “large empty shell” will have been transformed with more than $2 million in renovations, franchisee Christopher Kulp said. It will include about 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space where pooches can play, eat, and sleep.

“We want the dog pulling on the leash to go in,” said Kulp, who owns the Wayne location with his wife, Marnie.

K9 Resorts, a North Jersey-based chain of high-end boarding and doggy daycare facilities, caters to animal-loving consumers who increasingly want to spoil their pets with posh experiences.

For around $100 a day, a K9 Resorts guest can stay in a “luxury suite,” an 8-by-8-foot soundproof room complete with elevated, chew-proof dog beds and “in-suite entertainment,” including an HD TV tuned to Animal Planet or “DogTV,” programming specifically designed to calm pups.

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Less luxe options range from $60 to $85 a day. The facilities tout their cleanliness, advertising that they use hospital-grade products and advanced air filtration systems. They also boast of an attentive and personalized approach, with pup parents being able to opt for individualized or group play during the day.

The Kulps first considered getting into the boarding business around the time that pandemic pups created a surge of demand for pet services. And some of the places where the Kulps had boarded their dogs left much to be desired.

“A lot of the kennels, they were pretty unpleasant experiences for everybody involved. They weren’t modernizing,” Christopher Kulp said. And sometimes, “the facilities felt like a farm,” with a distinct odor, he said.

The Kulps’ dogs had even come home sick a few times after staying in a kennel. The family thought they could tap into the market for better accommodations.

At the same time, Christopher Kulp connected with K9 Resorts through his full-time job in supply chain.

In conversations, the K9 Resorts founders seemed “very cognizant about the health of the animals” in their care, Kulp said. “We were really impressed and intrigued.”

Kulp came upon the closed Rite Aid location shortly after and said he was drawn to its central location, just off the popular Radnor Trail and next to a busy shopping center with a Target, Acme, a gym, and a human hotel.

The Kulps plan for K9 Resorts to stay in Wayne for at least the next 15 years, having signed a five-year lease, with two five-year extension options.

They are set to begin hiring in early August, Christopher Kulp said, and open around Labor Day, with plans to open booking a few weeks in advance.

K9 Resorts has five other Philadelphia-area spots — Audubon, Chalfont, Cherry Hill, Horsham, and Malvern, eight miles west of the Wayne location.

Like the other K9 Resorts, the Wayne spot will also offer doggy daycare for $30 to $60 a day.

They don’t offer grooming — that wouldn’t fit the resort feel, Kulp said, since most dogs don’t love getting their nails trimmed and their fur cut and blow-dried. Dogs staying two days or more must get a bath, for a fee of about $30; other guests can opt for more regular soaks.

Owners can personalize their pups’ experience in other ways, too. At some locations, customers can upgrade, paying $12 on an even fancier dog bed, $4 for Evian water, and $15 for extra personal play time.

K9 Resorts’ philosophy involves “just tailoring the experience to make sure the dogs enjoy going back,” Kulp said.