In the heart of Downtown LA, an innovative and unique pet boutique brings a playful, edgy and fun twist to the traditional pet store experience, filled with everyday essentials and distinctive products and services.

360: How long has Pussy & Pooch been on 6th and Main?
We opened our doors in December of 2007.

360: How did you come up with such a dynamic concept for a pet store?
There was an obvious amenity lacking in the community coupled with loads of opportunities to create something special within this bustling neighborhood. No stranger to Downtown LA, I've been here watching the progress for the last 14 years and decided to jump in the concept for P&P was developed over 2 years. My background in design, marketing and brand development plays a huge role in my ability as a visionary, not just within the pet industry, but for future retail development of Downtown LA. We set-out to create P&P as a pet lifestyle concept store, a place to experience with your companion animals. We've been turning heads everywhere since we opened. P&P has become a destination for pet lovers from all over southern California, as well as other parts of the world.

360: The animals seem to really enjoy the Paw Bar. What would you recommend?
Dogs go crazy for our one-of-a-kind PawbarTM where the four-legged diners feast on made-to-order meaty pet meals. We serve a variety of raw meat meals, all-natural soup and stews, fresh- prepared entrees and organic frozen yogurt for dogs. One of our favorites is the "Deer in Headlights", raw meaty Venison nuggets drizzled in chicken liver sauce and topped with minced jerky and crumbled Wisconsin cheese.

360: Describe the Bathhouse and grooming experience?
The P&P Bathhouse is a modern and upscale pet bathing plus grooming area. It's designed for comfort, convenience and a pleasant spa-like experience. Our loft-style industrial-chic space is outfitted with top-notch professional equipment, featuring full-sized stainless steele bathing tubs, forced-air drying stations and complete with premium, natural spa products, grooming tools and supplies. We offer a menu of high-quality grooming essentials tailored to meet budget and lifestyle needs - from Self Service to Signature Spa Experiences.

360: What's next on the agenda for Pussy & Pooch? Any events we can look forward to?
Pussy & Pooch hosts regular mixers for pets and their partners - including fabulous Mutt Mingle's, Pet Adoptions and Art Exhibits. Most events have a giving theme tied back to the pet community. This fall, we will launch our 2nd annual 'What's in their Bowl' campaign to promote pet nutrition and animal wellness through a series of in-store events: tastings, giveaways and a photo contest to win a year supply of pet food.

360: What would you tell any aspiring pet store owners?
Anyone aspiring to become a pet store owner must have both vision and the capability to create something fresh within this industry. In addition, they must possess excellent marketing skills and great customer service, coupled with the ability to merchandise and brand development. So, look beyond "Main Street" to create a buzzworthy brand and a welcoming destination for pets and their guardians. To be a successful pet business, it takes much more than passion for animals.

360: Do you own any pets? If so, how many?
Currently, we have three cats: Minx, Nadja and Frida. Our house cat, Frida, makes frequent special appearances at the store. Recently, our 14-year-old Chief Barking Officer, Cosmo, passed away earlier this year.

360: What's your favorite breed of dog? What's your favorite type of cat?
My business partner and husband Rob's favorite dog breed is the Jack Russell because of their energy and intelligence. My favorite cat breed is the Himalayan because of their striking beauty, but really I love any animal with FUR.
Monte Design Group and 360 Magazine
monte design group and 360 magazine
monte design group and 360 magazine
The Montemurro Residence in Canada is a custom home that the creators of Monte Design recently built. The Montemurro's are avid modern design enthusiasts - and also are parents to 5 children. The result is a modern-chic, kid friendly home. Some of their celebrity clients include Christina Aguilera and Tori Spelling.


Bret Rowe: The World's Next Big Artist
BRET ROWE'S STATEMENT

Our world, whether viewed currently or historically, is a constantly evolving mass of new information that demands unbiased interpretretations. Images, labels, castes and religio-political undercurrents define and redefine snapshots of our culture that are framed as history seconds after occurring.

My work centers around graphic compositions that merge these cultural snapshots with my writing psyche and painter's eye to yield an ongoing commentary on the politicos, protagonists, performers, Prima donnas and purposes that shape our planet's societal microcosms.

My fascination with the characters, coincidences and confounding events that connect our society serves as the dominant ingredient in two and three-dimensional narratives that may deliver irony as well as inform. The interpretation is left for those looking into my window on the world.

ABOUT BRET ROWE

Rowe grew up in San Francisco's bay area, where the flames of his creativity were fanned by the graphical revolution of the late 1960s. After, graduating from Arizona State University in 1985 with a B.S. in Finance, Rowe followed his passion and established a commercial design & branding firm specializing in corporate identity,"strategic development" and fine art.

Having painted since his youth, Rowe made silkscreen his medium in the early 1990s. The artist has been showing his work at public and private showings since 1996, putting his pieces in the hands of some of Hollywood's rich and famous. His art can be found in the homes of actor Jack Nicholson, Terminator 3 Producer Nigel Sinclair and Guess Jeans founder Georges Marciano, who commissioned Rowe to paint 24 portraits for home and office. Rowe's text-based work also hangs in the Hollywood homes of various screenwriters, television writers and sitcom strategists.

Rowe has also added Rock-and-Roll headliner Kid Rock, Evil Entertainment Concert Management co-founder Eric Grzybowski and the private collection of the world-renowned Canyon Ranch spa to his list of collectors.

A large portion of the artist's body of work stems from private commissions and portraiture, wherein Rowe uses an amalgam of his writer's psyche, painter's palette and icons/text from the subject's life to deliver a detailed, legacy painting that becomes an instant heirloom.

Rowe was the 2005-6 Paradise Valley (AZ) Artist-for-the-Year, which comprised a year-long retrospective of his work at the Paradise Valley Town Hall ending October 2006. The artist calls Santa Monica, CA home and, with his jewelry designer wife Margaret (www.MargaretRowe.com) and nine-year-old son Chase, finds summertime inspiration in the "waves of the California coast" and the "neighborhoods" of Manhattan (NYC).
Margaret Rowe is Definitely Not A Diamond in the Rough

Couture jewelry designer Margaret Rowe, (www.margaretrowe.com), creates one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted couture necklaces for fashionistas worldwide. Rowe's passion for vintage jewels was discovered upon uncovering an ornate, antique pearl Czechoslovakian bracelet that had belonged to her ancestors. Enthralled with the miniature bejeweled work of art and mesmerized by its design excellence, Rowe envisioned a world where modern and antiquity converge via the warm welcome of a designing hand.

Spanning several decades of collecting, Rowe has amassed a vast collection of estate treasures from all continents dating from the 1920s through the 1950s. Each piece that enters Rowe's collection is judged on its value as a work of art, its excellence in design and its place in the history of fashion's glamour eras. Rowe uses these selected artifacts to create four Collections of sculptural masterpieces per year.

With a business background in marketing, a passion for fashion and a love for vintage, Rowe launched Margaret Rowe Vintage Couture in 2003 with the Heiress Collection - pendant necklaces comprised of gemstones and genuine vintage elements that reflect the history of fashion's glamour eras. The limited edition collection, Decadence, launched in Spring 2006, features sterling silver sculptural necklaces of dimensional power and museum-quality design. Her latest Collection, Opulence, features mixed metal chains, textural elements and genuine vintage. 

All collections are an intersection of art and fashion and are testament to the allure of costume glamour and its colorful, textural and proportionate signatures.

Rowe's one-of-a-kind artpieces have been featured in several national magazines including: Women's Wear Daily, National Jeweler, InStyle and Modern Bride. Her work has been?shown at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) and Phoenix Art Museum's Arizona Costume Institute (ACI).  The Collections are currently being shown at Los Angeles Country Museum of Art (LACMA), Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA) and the atelier of French designer Lloyd Klein in Los Angeles.

Margaret Rowe Vintage Couture is based in Santa Monica, California. The line has adorned the necklines of celebrities Heidi Klum, Mariah Carey, Nikki Hilton, Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Molly Sims.
vaughn lowery and margaret rowe wearing the designers signature pieces.
Vaughn and Margaret Rowe are adorned in her line of estate jewelry which are made out of Swavorski crystals.


flawless vodka and 360 magazine,vaughn lowery