Nederland Feed and Pet LTD provides supplies for a mini Noah’s Ark range of animals — rabbits and pigs to goats, llamas and alpacas, reptiles, fish, horses, chickens and house pets — from its alpine outpost in downtown Ned at 120 E. 2nd Street.
This broad offering gives the high alpine dwellers in and around Ned an accessible place to go for animal care — the 2,900-foot slow slide to Boulder prohibits a quick run to similar stores in the city. The town’s original feed store has served local pet owner’s since 1986 when original owner Al Bateman flung open its doors for the first time.
Now in its 34th year and fourth location, husband-and-wife duo Adam and Abby Pause keep it rolling as its third owners.
To Adam and Abby, who dream of one day owning a nonprofit animal sanctuary, buying the feed store felt naturally aligned, spun with the help of local retail-restaurant team and business incubators Salto Coffee Works and Tin Shed Sports.
From the log cabin out front of the shop, Abby runs the business’s grooming operation, while Adam manages the store. (Abby operates the studio with one other groomer, Haley O’Donovan.)
The shop relies on several local distributors to obtain product — Ranch-Way Feeds in Fort Collins and Manna Pro in Denver — and Adam picks up hay and straw from Hygiene.
More specialized than a Petco or PetSmart, Ned Feed teems with a cozy, local familiarity, with high ceilings and open garage door giving way to a fenced backyard where several dogs usually play.
Bringing local expertise
“People come here because it’s a small store,” says Adam. “they know we have lots of animals and experience in pet nutrition.”
The pair has 20 chickens, nine goats, five dogs (ranging from 11 to 100 pounds), three sheep, one rabbit and a llama sharing their five-acre property in Gilpin County, which spans half grass and half woods and sits about nine miles from the store.
The store, considered essential, reduced its hours during Covid-19 but hasn’t shut its doors, relying on curbside delivery and its grooming business.
Header Image: Ned Feed and Pet’s entrance sign. Image: Tatyana Sharpton.
