In early January, pet lovers may have noticed that Jeffrey’s Natural Pet Foods had vacated its North Beach location at 1841 Powell St. After nearly six weeks of upgrades and a building retrofit, it's now back in its original spot. 

Last year, the landlord notified the business that the building would be undergoing seismic retrofit construction as part of the mandatory soft story retrofit program established in 2013 by the Department of Building Inspection. Manager Anna Koscielniak Thiel told us that while they didn’t have to leave during construction, they opted to temporarily relocate to a “pop-up” space just a few blocks away, and use the time to make some improvements to the shop while they were gone. 

After packing up all of their inventory, they made the short move to 2201 Powell St., on the corner of Francisco Street, a long-vacant storefront that's been used for pop-up businesses before, Thiel told us. “I think it was a surf shop pop-up before they found a permanent location,” she said. (True: We reported on it back in September.) “We knew the owners, and they let us move in while the work was being done,” she added.

Earlier this month, Jeffrey's was able to move back into its original space after the construction was completed, and Thiel said people love the new improvements. The walls have a fresh coat of paint, new flooring was installed, and a wall in the back was knocked out for room to house a new refrigerator to display their raw pet foods. The shop seems more spacious now and “it is much cleaner feeling than it was before," Thiel said.

Jeffrey’s has two other locations, one at 433 Precita Ave. in Bernal Heights and the other at 284 Noe St. in Duboce Triangle. Thiel told us they're committed to the neighborhoods that they serve. “Whenever we hold events, we always make sure that we go to places like Liguria Bakery and Little Vine for our needs,” she said. Not only are the Jeffrey’s brand pet foods made in San Francisco—which are made fresh five days a week—some of the other products they sell, including collars and harnesses, are manufactured by companies located in the Bay Area.

In keeping with their commitment to being a local, neighborhood shop, Jeffrey's has a weekly schedule of events that are open to the public, with drop-in dog training sessions on Tuesdays, puppy classes on Wednesdays, and small dog socials every Saturday. And for dogs on a walk with their owners who happen to meander into the store, there are free sample treats for them to enjoy as well.

Thiel told us that that a grand reopening party is in the works for sometime in March. (We'll keep you updated when the date is finalized.) Public records indicate that a new leaseholder of 2201 Powell St., Roots Cafe, will be taking over the space sometime this month. (We've attempted several times to reach the owners and will update you when we get more details on that.)

Jeffrey's Natural Pet Foods is open 11am-8pm Monday–Friday, 10am-7pm Saturday and 11am-7pm Sunday.