New Hamburg Pet Valu owner keeping company values in the family

Owner Kayla Orleck (holding 10-month-old daughter Blythe) and her team at Pet Valu New Hamburg are ready and willing to help Wilmot and area residents with all their pet needs while also giving back to the community. Galen Simmons Photo

Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For Kayla Orleck, the owner of Pet Valu New Hamburg, running a Pet Valu store is in her genes.

Both of Orleck’s parents, Joanne and Dale, run their own Pet Valu stores, meaning she spent plenty of time inside the pet stores and learned the company’s values around providing great customer service and giving back to community early on.

“I always joke that I grew up in a Pet Valu and now we’re passing on the tradition, which is really fun,” Orleck said. “My mom thinks it’s the best. My mom has one (store) and my dad has one, so between the two of them, we were very, very busy.”

Orleck, who got her first taste of Pet Valu company culture working at her parents’ stores while growing up in Cobourg, met her now-husband while they were attending school at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her husband, who is from Waterloo Region, ultimately convinced her to stay, leading directly to the opportunity to open a Pet Valu store in New Hamburg.

“I worked for corporate, as well, when I was in university, so they reached out to my parents to ask, ‘Is Kayla still in that area? We want to get a store in New Hamburg,’ ” Orleck recalled. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, New Hamburg is amazing,’ so I jumped on it.”

That opportunity, however, came at a difficult time for businesses locally and around the world, in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the New Hamburg store opened, Orleck said they had to operate through curbside pickup only and customers couldn’t even come inside to see for themselves all the products and services Pet Valu has to offer.

Since then, business has improved and the store has become a treasured part of the New Hamburg business community offering everything from pets for adoption to a self-serve dog-wash station complete with towels, shampoo and aprons to help dog owners stay at least somewhat dry during the process.

“We try to make our experience really personable and we like to work with a lot of the local rescues,” Orleck said. “We’re trying to get involved with our community events and we know most of our customers by name.

“In New Hamburg, it’s kind of unique because we’re halfway between the Kitchener-Waterloo and Stratford humane societies, so being able to help support and raise money for some of the local, grassroots animal rescues and organizations is kind of nice.”

Last month, for example, New Hamburg Pet Valu ran its Paw Month initiative to raise money for Axel’s Imprint Rescue and Sanctuary, a cat rescue in Shakespeare.

Pet Valu New Hamburg, like Pet Valu stores across Canada, is also a huge supporter of the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides initiative. Each year in the spring, the local Pet Valu partners with the Wilmot Lions/Lioness clubs to host the Pet Valu Walk for Dog Guides. The fundraiser walk supports people living with disabilities or agencies assisting people who have experienced trauma by providing Dog Guides at no cost and supporting them in their journey together.

While Orleck is currently living out her dream of carrying on her family’s Pet Valu tradition, she is also actively passing that tradition on to the next generation, often brining her daughter, 10-month-old Blythe, into work with her.

This way, little Blythe is learning to love pets, and their owners, before she can even walk.

For more information about Pet Valu New Hamburg, visit in person at 100 Mill St. in the Sobey’s plaza or call 519-390-0265. Hours of operation are Monday to Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.