Build Bath & Shower

Kayla Wheeler and her boyfriend, Elliot Okland, got the 160-pound dog with a thick black coat about three years ago. She had always wanted a Newfoundland, she said, and his calm, friendly personality quickly won over Okland. But Leopold's large size posed a problem: Giving him a bath at home was too messy. Wheeler looked into the options around Minneapolis where they lived and found a self- serve dog wash that was clean, convenient and perfect for their busy lifestyle. Okland, a native of Montana who moved to Fargo when he was 12, joked that he was more familiar with a less sophisticated dog cleaning method . "Just hose them off with a hose," he said with a chuckle. As they traveled more, Wheeler said she realized that nice place she found in Minneapolis was rare. Much more common, she said, were businesses that were dirty or booked up several months in advance. They did their homework, researching the pros and cons of many grooming business es they visited along the...

The 1986 edition of the International Collection of Interior Design , a trade magazine for those in the business, issued a bold statement regarding bathrooms: “The era of the utilitarian, puritanical bathroom is over and now it is returning to center stage as the place for luxurious, sophisticated relaxation in the home.” The 1986 bathroom would bring back the grand indulgences of the Romans, who surrounded themselves with plush beauty during their ablutions. This elevation of the master bathroom from the “necessary room” as it was euphemistically called, to its reign as the cornerstone of the master suite, was such a rapid and recent development, that it is easy to take it for granted. Bathrooms haven’t changed much since indoor plumbing became a standard feature in newly built homes at the turn of the 20th century.  This, coupled with changing societal expectations regarding the frequency of bathing and new technology such as the flush toilet, swiftly ushered in the era of the  mo...