Our Leadership Team
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Luke Johnson
Founder & CEO
Luke Johnson is a proud 4th generation Coloradoan- his grandparents were dairy farmers and Colorado home steaders in the late 1800's. He completed schooling at the University of Northern Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, emphasis in public relations and marketing media. He has experience working in public relations for a regional hospital campus and served as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the National Business Office of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. He became a Jimmy Johns Franchisee in 2012 growing his store to record breaking unit sales in Colorado. He sold his ownership in 2015 and opened Luke & Co. in early 2016.
Luke has a black lab named Annie (she also responds to "stinky") who was rescued from the Weld County Humane Society in October of 2009. He enjoys tending his saltwater aquarium to grow designer strains of aqua cultured corals. He has recently gotten into vintage transportation and oil related advertising, particularly porcelain signage from the 1930's through the 1960's. |
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Kayleigh Lane
Director of Finance and Inventory
Kayleigh was born in South Carolina but has lived in Colorado for over 15 years. She brings her social media experience to Luke & Co. by managing all aspects of our marketing and digital footprint. She is also in charge of inventory management which means she is constantly working hard to make sure our store is full of the right amount of the best products the industry has to offer. She is instrumental in keeping our distributors in line and building our relationships with manufacturers across the world. She brings retail experience to us from some of Denver's award winning boutique clothing retailers. She has an excellent eye for merchandising the right products in the right places.
Outside of work Kayleigh can be found cooking with her friends and crafting delicious meals! She spends weekends hiking with her two dogs, Kovu and Grizz. and finds any excuse she can to escape to Colorado's beautiful mountain trails. |
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Valerie Bradner
Executive Director of Grooming Operations
Originally from Chicago, Valerie Brings over 18 years of experience in grooming to our establishment. Her calm demeanor is great for nervous and anxious dogs. She has the ability to do any cut from Standard Schnauzers and Poodles and Westies. Her cuts are truly incredible and her attention to detail is phenomenal. She lives in Superior Colorado with her husband and their mini Golden Doodle named Iris.
-Current Schedule: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday -Usually booked out: 8+ weeks |
How did we get here?
Luke Johnson, Founder & CEO
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The Plan
When our Founder & CEO Luke Johnson began the planning process for Luke & Co back in 2008, he started with an idyllic vision. He approached the idea of a retail pet supply space as if it were not related to pet's or retail at all. "How do we build a store that doesn't feel like a typical dark, dingy and smelly pet shop? What natural-earth materials do we use and how do we make the shop look and feel unique? I want it to be instantly clear that this is not any ordinary shop. After I designed a space that felt like a mix of modern forestry products and old country feed store I built everything else around that concept." |
The Experience
Going out to eat, purchasing a new suit/dress and even getting your car detailed all have one thing in common- it is about the experience and service as much as the end product. Within Luke & Co. it is known that Luke is a fanatic about good customer service. "Without someone greeting you, listening and problem solving with you, all of our work on the build-out and the products on the shelf are a waste of time. Every employee MUST be focused on delivering the best customer service."
The Business Side
Having a great idea is only half of the battle. Perfecting and executing those ideas into fruition is just as difficult. "It was always the goal to make Luke & Co. a one-stop-shop. A large selection of quality retail, grooming and self-serve dog washing all in one place. If we truly want to be a competitive player in the Retail Pet Supply arena we have to offer our customers a superior shopping experience in every way. Needless to say that shopping experience must be coupled with the convenience of things like Same-Day Delivery and special orders."
That is what spawned the idea that we need to have the largest selection in the Downtown Denver area. The basic tripod of attributes (environment, service and selection) is what makes up Luke & Co. today. Four legs is better than three though and taking care of our employees is the fourth leg of our company.
Taking care of our employees
Luke is building an ethical company the old fashioned way. Our employees are treated like family with $17.50 per hour starting wage and full health benefits for employees working 32 hours per week or more. For employees working an average of 38 hours per week or more, we offer 2 weeks paid time off each year. And guess what- our healthcare is not a cheap chintzy plan. Luke & Co. chooses to offer our employees low deductible, low out of pocket max plans with phenomenal protection. No other retail pet supply establishment offers better healthcare protection for their employees.
"If we can't take care of our employees then we can't expect them to take care of the customers either. I have high expectations for everyone at Luke & Co. but inspiring people to want to be great in all they do is about more than an hourly wage- Its about taking care of them with the things that matter like health benefits and the ability to take time off and recharge. It boils down to enlightened self interest; we help our employees help themselves. In turn we have far fewer employees quitting and every employee is happy to be with the company. In an economy where good applicants are hard to find we have weekly applications from overqualified individuals- that is the power of building a well rounded company that will become an industry leader."
Going out to eat, purchasing a new suit/dress and even getting your car detailed all have one thing in common- it is about the experience and service as much as the end product. Within Luke & Co. it is known that Luke is a fanatic about good customer service. "Without someone greeting you, listening and problem solving with you, all of our work on the build-out and the products on the shelf are a waste of time. Every employee MUST be focused on delivering the best customer service."
The Business Side
Having a great idea is only half of the battle. Perfecting and executing those ideas into fruition is just as difficult. "It was always the goal to make Luke & Co. a one-stop-shop. A large selection of quality retail, grooming and self-serve dog washing all in one place. If we truly want to be a competitive player in the Retail Pet Supply arena we have to offer our customers a superior shopping experience in every way. Needless to say that shopping experience must be coupled with the convenience of things like Same-Day Delivery and special orders."
That is what spawned the idea that we need to have the largest selection in the Downtown Denver area. The basic tripod of attributes (environment, service and selection) is what makes up Luke & Co. today. Four legs is better than three though and taking care of our employees is the fourth leg of our company.
Taking care of our employees
Luke is building an ethical company the old fashioned way. Our employees are treated like family with $17.50 per hour starting wage and full health benefits for employees working 32 hours per week or more. For employees working an average of 38 hours per week or more, we offer 2 weeks paid time off each year. And guess what- our healthcare is not a cheap chintzy plan. Luke & Co. chooses to offer our employees low deductible, low out of pocket max plans with phenomenal protection. No other retail pet supply establishment offers better healthcare protection for their employees.
"If we can't take care of our employees then we can't expect them to take care of the customers either. I have high expectations for everyone at Luke & Co. but inspiring people to want to be great in all they do is about more than an hourly wage- Its about taking care of them with the things that matter like health benefits and the ability to take time off and recharge. It boils down to enlightened self interest; we help our employees help themselves. In turn we have far fewer employees quitting and every employee is happy to be with the company. In an economy where good applicants are hard to find we have weekly applications from overqualified individuals- that is the power of building a well rounded company that will become an industry leader."
Our Satisfaction
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We guarantee your satisfaction on our service as well as any product we sell. We will never sell anything with Corn, Animal by-products or harmful chemicals. If your dog doesn't like the food you bought, bring it back with more than half the original amount and receive a full refund or exchange. Yep, that's our return policy, simple like it ought to be.
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Our Quality Guarantee is comprehensive and thorough. Anyone can "inspect" or "approve" pet supplies, but what does that really mean? We don't just give our opinion on products, we test them, evaluate them and put them through a 25 point battery so you know why we carry each product and why it's on our shelf. If a product does not meet or exceed each requirement it is not sold in the shop. We will gladly special order any product your heart desires, but we will not regularly carry it in the store unless it meets our quality standards.
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Family owned and operated in Denver, Colorado