Meet Marsha Vallee | Co-Owner, Noble Beast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marsha Vallee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marsha, is there something you believe many others might not?
“Don’t hire friends.” We have found that hiring our friends and our customers has the best outcome for everyone. With retail jobs, turnover can be really high. When you hire a customer, you get someone who already loves your store and who is motivated by the employee discount. You also have the advantage of finding people who already have another job or who are raising kids, but who want a few hours here and there. That is great for retail at a small store where we don’t necessarily have full time hours to offer.

What should our readers know about your business?
Noble Beast is a brick and mortar store in midtown Phoenix that carries a curated selection of natural pet food and supplies. We are a woman-owned local business started by two long-time friends and have been in business since 2007. What really sets us apart from other pet food stores our non-corporate atmosphere and staff that knows our products and our customers. People often need help with health issues such as allergies, kidney issues, age-related problems and more. We have the experience to get them to the right products for their pets. We opened the store right at the start of a recession and it was not easy, but with a focus on creating customers for life, we have made it through 16 years and multiple generations of our customers’ pets. Being a one-and-only store helps us to remain agile when situations like the pandemic came along. But the most important thing is being a trusted, safe, fun place for people to shop.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Food: Lon’s at the Hermosa Inn for brunch, Dick’s Hideaway for the atmosphere and the New Mexican-style food, La Pinata for classic Sonoran, Hillstone because it’s lovely and consistent.

Live music at Dirty Drummer, drinks at the Wrigley Mansion

Field Trips: Desert Bontanical Garden, Old Town Scottsdale, Lost Dutchman State Park, Tucson

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Local First Arizona. This organization offers a lot of support for local businesses, including education and networking as well as their work promoting the importance of local business in communities. This happens at the grassroots and legislative levels.

Website: https://NobleBeastPets.com

Instagram: NobleBeastPets

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NobleBeastPets