Store

Imagine what it would be like if your pets could speak. They would compliment you on the things you got right ("Thanks for leaving the toilet set up") and make suggestions as to how your relationship could be improved ("Sometimes, when I'm trying to talk to at you at 3 in the morning, I feel like you're not listening to me"). Now, it's a virtual certainty that during this latter line of discussion, your pet will declare: "I hate that beige 'cat condo'," or "'Marmaduke'-themed dog bowls? What were you thinking?"

When they bring that up, tell them about Urban Beast. This bright, colorful shop is a boon to both pets and pet owners alike. Pets will love the shop's stock of healthy foods and organic supplements -- dogs will love the freshly-made chews, while cats can nosh on sushi-flavored wet food. There are toys aplenty -- catnip-filled for felines and ruggedly-made pieces for canines. And even the shop's floor is pet-friendly -- made up of square concrete tiles, it's almost an extension of the sidewalk that's so familiar to urban paws.

Pet owners, on the other hand, will love the way that Urban Beast takes the unattractive necessities of owning a pet in the city -- food and water bowls, carriers, beds and scoops for picking up droppings -- and makes them fit in with even the most stylishly-appointed of condos and apartments. Here you'll find colorful, playfully-shaped poop-scoops; brightly colored food bowls that sit in clear-plastic caddies; and a post-modernist cat scratching post, shaped vaguely like a "Tetris" piece and designed to hang on your wall like fine art. Urban Beast makes these utilitarian objects into classy furnishings that will brighten any dwelling, provide the necessary care and comfort to your pet, and give the two of you something to talk about.