Clever Doggy Services: a Gentrification Signal

It's a crude shorthand, I know, for the complicated phenomenon of gentrification that involves people's homes and businesses and lives, an issue that comes up in most of my tours.

But... the three clearest signs of retail gentrification, I like to say, involve expensive coffee (well beyond Starbucks), yoga/Pilates, and dog grooming/doggy day care. And it just so happens the field of dog-related services lends itself to puns (as does the human hair salon business, I'm reminded).

Below are (and the list will grow) some notable examples:

• Bark Slope Salon in Park Slope
• Who's Your Doggy in Fort Greene (also Bed-Stuy)
• Ciao Bow Wow in Boerum Hill (also Financial District)
• Doggie Styles in Williamsburg (despite the 212 phone number)

Nominations welcome.

Please note: I have nothing against these establishments! But they do provoke chuckles.