Dog lovers across Boston are struggling to find spots to enjoy with their favorite pooch. A dog-loving family aims to fix that with Park-9.
Spouses Emily Gusse and Tess Kohanski, and Kohanski’s brother Chris Kohanski, first opened the one-of-a-kind dog park and bar flagship location in Everett April 13, 2023. Their goal was to create a space where both dogs and humans were free to socialize and enjoy each other’s company.
The Park-9 Everett location includes a full service bar, an outdoor and indoor dog park equipped with park rangers and both on- and off-leash areas for the dogs to enjoy. New England’s only indoor dog park with a full bar also provides dog daycare and training services, a real one-stop shop for anything man’s best friend needs.
The trio first drew inspiration for Park-9 from their 5-year-old golden retriever Nora, parented by Gusse and Tess Kohanski.
“She’s really the cornerstone of our family and this is becoming more and more true in today’s society,” said Gusse, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Park-9. “We wanted a place to be able to go and bring her and bring her comfortably.”
After discovering a dog bar in Minnesota on a work trip, Gusse said she knew she had to bring this concept to New England. Luckily, the couple already had their own toolbox of skills to open and operate a business, as Tess Kohanski is an urban planner by trade with a master’s degree in city planning, and Gusse has an MBA, both from Boston University. However, the two-year-long process of bringing Park-9 to life was not easy.
“We’re the first of our kind here so there was a lot to think through, a lot of people to talk to and a lot of things to understand about health regulations, zoning, permits and adding the complexity of how we can be able to have dogs run around while we’re doing all those things,” Gusse said.
Shortly after the opening, Gusse said there was an influx of dog-friendly patios being opened.
“This is what people want and people were really excited about having a dedicated space that they felt comfortable going to with their pup,” she said.
Fueled by the popularity of their Everett location, Park-9 opened a pop-up location at The Station in Fenway during the summer season. Not only did Park-9 provide customers and dogs with a new dog-friendly community to socialize and make connections, it also offered invaluable social experiences for dogs as well. Samantha Trachten, a manufacturer’s representative living in Fenway and a Park-9 regular, said Park-9 has been a “game changer” for her dog Archie.
“We moved here in January and he was really reactive to dogs and to men, and now anyone can approach him; he’s friendly and I think being exposed to different dogs off leash was key,” Trachten said.
The shared social experience at Park-9 for customers and their dogs has fostered a real community for dog lovers across Boston and has helped build connections and new friendships for many of its patrons.
“[Park-9] has really created a community within itself which is super fun. People have met new neighbors and on days where we’re closed, they’ll still go and meet up at parks to hang out,” said Grace Garcia, assistant venue manager at Park-9 Fenway.
While community members were ecstatic to have a dedicated space to relax with their dogs, owners knew there would be some concern about the viability of the dog park and bar combination. One of Park-9’s day one goals was to educate customers on the meticulous safety measures Park-9 employs that you don’t see at your average dog park, Gusse said.
“It’s not like there’s oversight in your local dog parks, and so for us we knew we were going to put dedicated park rangers in the park who are there for the sole goal of making sure the play stays positive,” Gusse said.
The “park rangers” stationed throughout the park allow customers to relax at the full service bar without worrying about the safety of their dogs. In addition to the watchful eyes of the park rangers, before entering Park-9, every dog must be registered and fully up to date with vaccinations, and as an extra measure of safety, Park-9 staff are trained to be able to identify common dog illnesses.
“I usually don’t do dog parks because there’s fights and bacteria,” Trachten said. “But Park-9 cleans it every night, disinfects as they go and they make it a mentally safe space.” Park rangers and Park-9 staff complete spot checks throughout the entire day, three deep cleans a day and have a third-party commercial cleaning company come in every night to deep clean.
Gusse and the Kohanskis also make it a priority to give back to the Boston community.
“We do a ton of partnerships which was really core to our vision of founding this and the idea of how we can do well and do good at the same time,” Gusse said. “We do adoption events here, we do puppy yoga that we donate funds from and partner with local rescues on that.”
Inclusivity is at the forefront of Park-9’s design model.
“We really tried to think about how to design a space that felt comfortable and that felt like I can come in here and not have to worry,” Gusse said, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself. Park-9 has gender-neutral bathrooms and an overall welcoming environment to all individuals.
“For us, it was kind of about the vision of building something that was sustainable that allowed us to make our mark but also to make people happy,” Gusse said.
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