Hi there! Jackie here. The canine voice behind the duo that is the Eat, Drink, Be Hairy blog. I write this blog along with my Humom (Human Mom), Joelle.

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When you think of torture, does shopping the day after Christmas come to mind? Rest assured you are in good company.  The torture is real for me, also.

But the promise of sales on December 26 lures Humom to the Alpine Shop (440 N. Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood, MO 63122 | 314-962-7715), and she had decided I must come along.  She had seen a beautiful, well-behaved German Shepherd at the store on her previous visit, but didn’t want to assume dogs are welcome.  The Alpine Shop is, in fact, “definitely” dog-friendly, as Humom was told when she called the store prior to our visit.

Perhaps you have a gift card burning a hole in your pocket.  Perhaps you have a return.  Perhaps Santa didn’t quite deliver.  Whatever your reason for venturing into retail hell, whatever your reason for joining in the infinitely long “returns” line, you are not alone.  December 26 is the second biggest shopping day of the year, with Black Friday taking the top prize.

But, as it turns out, the Alpine Shop was not torture.  There was no endless “returns” line, as is typically present at other stores after the holidays.  Customers were shuffling about, shopping the after-Christmas sales. They were not returning thoughtless gifts, purchased at the last minute from, perhaps, convenience stores.  They seemed to be gifting themselves.  Not torturing themselves.

And it definitely was not torture for me.  As I lazily sprawled in front of the store’s Christmas tree while Humom shopped for a treat for me in the doggy section of the store, a friendly employee commented that they “love” Pit Bulls at their store, a welcomed reaction considering the unfair bad rap we sometimes are forced to endure.  Another employee was overheard informing a customer of the store’s dog-friendly status, after the customer noticed me exiting the restrooms with Humom.  Never one to pass up a treat, I gladly accepted a small doggy treat pulled from the pocket of yet another employee – presumably a reward for my laziness, cleverly disguised as respectable behavior.

In the end, my laziness was rewarded with a Snowball chew toy.  It is sure to go nicely with the new bed I received for Christmas, which I certainly will not be returning.

~ Jackie Brown

The Alpine Shop has been locally owned since 1973 and now operates in three locations.  The Kirkwood location is open Monday-Saturday from 9-10 and on Sunday from 10-7.