New storefront is cookie cutter perfect

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One Seymour couple’s new store, The Fussy Pup, has people wondering just what kind of products or services they provide.

Are they groomers? Do they bake dog treats?

No, their specialty is handmade copper cookie cutters.

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The Fussy Pup sold an average of 3,000 cookie cutters a month online in 2017, and with their business continuing to grow, co-owners Charles Wolfe and his wife, Kimberly, decided to search for a storefront location.

“We started this business five years ago in the spare room of our home, and now, we have four employees,” Charles said. “It was time to find a place to let our business grow, and when we found out Norm’s Footwear was for sale, it was an easy decision.”

Charles said they found just what they were looking for at 204 W. Second St., where they had visited many times over the years shopping for shoes at Norm’s.

“Norm has kept this place up beautifully, and the shelves were perfect for our cookie cutters,” Charles said. “We moved in around Aug. 9 and started making cookie cutters here two weeks later.”

The Fussy Pup offers more than 1,000 different types of cookie cutters, including dog breeds, holiday shapes, school themes, zombies and just about anything else a customer might request.

Charles and Kimberly are both originally from Indianapolis, but Kimberly’s family moved to Rushville around 1972, where her parents, Howard and Diane Martin, had a farm. That’s where Kimberly grew up.

Kimberly’s parents eventually sold the farm and relocated to Seymour, where they still live. Howard was a predecessor to The Fussy Pup, and he used to make copper baking pans and watering cans years ago.

“We had a small shop, also downtown Seymour on Second Street, called Martin’s by Hand from 1998 to around 2001,” Kimberly said. “We sold antique reproductions, and so learning the coppersmith trade runs in the family.”

As copper prices went up, Martin’s by Hand closed in the early 2000s.

“Charles and I each went into different jobs and tried restaurant work and that type of thing,” Kimberly said. “We were always trying to come up with something unique to make out of copper, though.”

Charles said one day, he was thinking about all of the different dog breeds and thought, “Why not try making copper cookie cutters out of dog breed shapes?”

“Everybody thought we were kind of nutty, but we started making the dog breed cutters, and we got up to about 150 different breeds,” Kimberly said. “Then we started selling them on eBay and Etsy many years ago. We did that in between gigs in restaurants, and then we transitioned into The Fussy Pup.”

Kimberly said people could buy cookie cutters for 99 cents elsewhere, so at The Fussy Pup, they want to make the cutters as special and detailed as possible.

“I was working at Walmart Distribution Center, and I was a 40-year-old man doing a 21-year-old man’s job lifting the heavy stuff,” Charles said. “I wanted to make some extra money, so I went back to doing the dog cookie cutters on eBay and Etsy and was amazed at the response I got.”

Charles said he knew if they could just sell 10 cookie cutters a day every day, he could quit his job, and they quickly hit that number.

“We started offering our products on Amazon about six months after we started on eBay, and everything just starting going crazy for us,” Charles said. “I got out of Walmart and started making the cutters in a spare bedroom of our house.”

Charles said his sister-in-law, Christine Martin, came to work for them part time a couple of years ago when she was still working at The Pines.

“She was the general manager of the restaurant and helped out with catering and was able to fill in part time for us,” Charles said. “Next thing you know, I was making her an offer, and she started working for us full time.”

Holli Brooks and Charles’ brother-in-law, Michael Martin, also work at The Fussy Pup.

Kimberly said they are hoping to have more people come and join their team this fall. They also are hoping to branch out and offer more woven and sewn items as their team and business grows.

“Hopefully at the first of the year, we’ll be launching our handmade rugs, and then we have a line of shopping bags,” Charles said. “We’ve got a couple of designs, and we’ve been going to some fabric shows and have purchased some unique fabrics.”

Kimberly said they are still trying to learn the process of weaving, and for now, it will be something she and Charles explore in their spare time.

“Dakota Mullins also helps out at The Fussy Pup, and he just recently got into the quality control side of what we do,” Charles said. “He makes beautiful cookie cutters. He came in here and he picked it up right away because he’s a bit fussy, too, meaning he’s a perfectionist.”

Charles said quality control is the last step before the cookie cutters are packaged up for shipping.

“We get our copper in 10-foot sheets, and then we cut it down for the size strips we need for each cutter,” Kimberly said. “If a customer does not see the cutter he or she needs and has a design drawn up, we will do our best to make that item.”

In the back room of The Fussy Pup, boxes of cookies cutters are waiting to be shipped out. Some go directly to customers, and some will go to the warehouse at Amazon for the Prime members, Kimberly said.

Charles and Kimberly like their cookie cutters to sit flat and be the correct shape. That’s why fussy is a part of the name because they are pretty particular about their products.

“People are also using our cutters for more than just cookies, and there are some ladies in the southwest that make air fresheners using our shapes,” Charles said. “They use the cutters as a mold and pour beads into it that melt, and then they bake it in the oven, and it comes out as an air freshener.”

Charles said the busiest time of the year for The Fussy Pup is from October through March and sometimes April, depending on when Easter falls.

“We’ll be working six or seven days a week during that time, and I never would’ve guessed how high the demand would be,” Charles said. “Each cookie cutter is hand formed and hand signed by the artist and is guaranteed to hold its shape to be passed down from generation to generation.”

Kimberly said a grand opening has not yet been planned, but perhaps around the first of the year. If someone wants to come in and buy a cookie cutter or see what they do, they have their doors opened most of the time.

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For information about The Fussy Pup, call 812-216-1140 or visit thefussypup.com or facebook.com/thefussypup.

To look at products, visit amazon.com/shops/A36BDZQ5NPZC8P or etsy.com/shop/TheFussyPup.

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