Former supermarket worker follows dream of opening own dog grooming salon

Cassandra Robson was working part time at Asda and due to her husband’s ill health she needed more hours so began walking dogs part time to earn extra money as Asda were unable to offer her more hours.

However when Covid-19 hit and people were furloughed or working from home the dog walking died down but Cassandra always had a passion for working with dogs.

Following on from the pandemic the 34-year-old decided to take up a college course to train to be a dog groomer.

At first she offered grooming for family and friends to build up her confidence and once she got her qualification she began looking for a premises to open a salon.

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Cassandra found the shop at Horsley Hill Square and firstly enquired about the old butchers but was currently under offer by another business which fell through.

However South Tyneside Council offered her another property at Horsley Hill Square to view and she applied for planning in March 2022 which was accepted in January 2023 and Cassandra opened her salon Robson’s Dog Grooming in April 2023.

She said: “The locals have been so lovely and welcoming to myself and another self employed groomer (Sage Professional Dog Grooming) who is renting a table in my salon.

“I love my job role now, I look forward to going into work instead of dreading it.”

As well as dog grooming and nail clipping the salon also offers a range of raw food, treats and toys.

The salon is working closely with a local photographer to supply free vouchers to book in for a photoshoot as well as a rewards system of nine grooms with 10% off the tenth groom.

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