Gordon Road Veterinary Consulting Rooms has undergone a complete overhaul, evolving from trusted pet store at Somerset Square for nearly two decades into a fully-fledged veterinary clinic.
The revamped business reopened its doors to loyal patrons as Gordon Road Veterinary Clinic with an official launch on Friday (28 July). “The Gordon Road Veterinary Clinic is open!” the business enthused on its Facebook page on the day. “Thank you to everyone who made this possible.”
The business no longer only offers pet owners access to premium pet products to keep their four-legged family members happy and nurtured, but expert primary veterinary services promoting their fur babies’ overall health too. To boot, Helderbergers can look forward to opening specials that will be running an entire month long.
According to manager Hester Vermeulen there had been no plan to expand the business until a premises opened up at the centre, promoting the development and a leap of faith.
“We were very excited to be able to expand,” she said. “We have been operating veterinary consulting rooms for years. Location inside the centre adversely affected accessibility, making it difficult for pet owners to bring in furry friends for surgery.
“The move was very sudden. We had no current plans to expand, but when we heard that the premises were available we jumped at the opportunity!”
Vermeulen further shared that the new premises offer direct access, particularly in terms of convenience and proximity, for bringing sick pets in that require treatment. Another advantage is offering a full veterinary clinical service to furry patients on site.
Established as a pet shop about 18 years ago, the facility has operated as a consulting room for the past nine years, offering only limited veterinary services such as sterilisations, dentals and skin consultations.
Said Vermeulen: “Since we could not see sick or injured animals as a consulting room we had so many clients we were unable to help and had to refer to other animal clinics. Now we are able to offer a full veterinary clinic service to clients.”
He said the entire renovation and relaunch took mere months to activate and complete.
“We had three months to prepare the move and set-up of the clinic, including design and layout. Our practice manager and dedicated team have been actively working around the clock to make sure the new clinic was ready for opening.”
While moving and setting up shop was a mammoth challenge, Vermeulen reckoned seeing the customers’ response when walking into the new clinic is definitely the highlight.
The business boasts Dr Charl Anderson who, although currently in New Zealand, remains actively involved in operations as principal veterinarian and role-player in the business’ establishment. The business was inspired by the desire to cater for the needs of pets and their loving owners, and help promote the importance of proper diet and care.
A new addition to the Gordon Road Veterinary Clinic team is Dr Joan Joubert, consulting veterinarian. The mom of two and two fur babies grew up in Namibia and completed her studies in Veterinary Medicine at the Onderstepoort Campus of the University of Pretoria in 2018. She relocated from Pretoria and is very happy to be part of the Helderberg community.
Apart from Vermeulen, other members of the dedicated and experienced team include receptionists Willa Nel, Lorina du Preez, Zantelle van Niekerk and Cathy Bernhardi, who have been working together for the past 15 years, priding themselves in providing second-to-none customer service and sound advice.
“We are very privileged to be part of this great community,” Vermeulen said. “We have some very special clients that has been regulars for many years! We want to thank them for always popping in and sharing their fur baby antics with us. That is what makes this clinic special and a pleasure to work with!”
The business, which is geared up for further expansion into a multi-veterinarian practice, will run great deals on consultation fees and invites locals to keep their eyes peeled on the Gordon Road Veterinary Clinic Facebook page for more details.
