Shopping on Manchester’s Historic Square isn’t just for humans anymore.

Ella Hutchings and her mother Katrina Banaski are offering a unique assortment of items for your furry friends at their Maroon Raccoon Pet Boutique located at 117 West Main Street.

Everything from clothes to harnesses to homemade treats, shampoos and conditioners will be available when the store opens on March 26.

The mother-daughter duo obtained a Tennessee Department of Agriculture license to be able to make and sell their own treats with natural ingredients to offer the community an alternative to the ones purchased at big box stores which the pair have had issues with before.

“They have been known to make my dog sick,” said Banaski. “He is 19 years old. We know what we put in the treats and we know what we put in the shampoo. It doesn’t break him out. He’s very, very sensitive.”

“Because he’s such a picky eater and has sensitive skin, he serves as the boutique’s unofficial product inspector,” Hutchings noted, adding that if he likes a product and can tolerate it, then they know they’ve made a good choice.

The idea for the boutique came after Hutchings’ return to Manchester after 10 years living in Knoxville and working in the corporate world from which she was abruptly laid off.

“I kind of decided that it would be beneficial to just start fresh and come back home,” she explained. “I don’t want my life to revolve around corporations, and I don’t want my livelihood to be abruptly stopped by a corporation.”

Hutchings and Banaski share a deep love for animals and decided to open a store that could cater to pets and their owners.

“We decided that Manchester doesn’t have a pet store at all,” said Hutchings. “People can go to Walmart and get some pet supplies but there’s definitely nothing cute like what we have going on, and we wanted to branch out and just rely on ourselves.”

“Walmart and the big box, they’re not going to take pictures of your dog when you bring them in if they allow you to bring them in,” added Banaski. “They’re not going to pet them or cater to them like we can.”

Hutchings explained that the goal of the store is to be personable and friendly and welcoming. They’re starting smaller to gauge the wants and needs of the community.

They eventually plan to expand their space and products to even include items for small critters.

“I want it to offer a sense of joy,” said Hutchings. “I used to come from the vet world and the shelter world, and those atmospheres can be joyful, but a lot of the time they’re not. This place is purely for joy, and I want people to walk by and think that they want to bring joy to their animals as well.”

Both mother and daughter agreed that they love the community that they found in Manchester. Banaski explained that she was raised in Warren County before moving to Coffee County at the age of 20.

Hutchings noted that she moved to Knoxville thinking that it would be a more accepting environment but found the opposite to be true.

“I moved back here due to my circumstances but also, I wanted a sense of real tight-knit community that you can’t find in bigger cities or even in some smaller towns,” she explained. “Everybody knows each other and I don’t think that that’s in a bad way. People are very uplifting here. The amount of support that we have gotten just from our Facebook page is bewildering.”

The inspiration for the name Maroon Raccoon came to Hutchings as they stood in the doorway of the new shoppe.

“I had already come up with another name, and the consensus was that people were not going to be able to understand the name,” she recalled. “So, we were brainstorming, and I was like ‘I know we want a color and a funky animal,’ and then I was like ‘Wait, Maroon Raccoon. It rhymes and we love raccoons.’ I think it’s super whimsical and quirky.”

Whimsical and quirky is also how the duo would describe the items that they sell with unique designs and patterns as well.

“You can come in and get a harness that matches a dress and matches a collar or a toy,” explained Banaski. “You can come in and sit on the floor and play with your dog. We do have a little poof here to sit on. We do plan on expanding but right now I think it’s perfect for us.”

While the main focus of the store is to offer good quality items and healthier alternatives for pets, Hutchings says she also wants to create a joyful atmosphere at Maroon Raccoon.

“We want to create a sense of wonder here and something that people haven’t experienced in small towns,” she emphasized. “There’s not a lot of what we have going on here, and I just want more of what we’re doing in Manchester.”