Rexburg couple are the owners of a new exotic pet store

Jordan and Maureen Moores are the owners of Custom Creatures Pet Club, an exotic pet store at 28 College Avenue in Rexburg. Watch them feed the lizard in the video above. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.

BIZ BUZZ

REXBURG

New pet store opens in Rexburg

Employee at Custom Creatures in Rexburg poses for a photo with a snake. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

REXBURG – It was a pet leopard gecko about 30 years ago that sparked Jordan and Maureen Moores’ interest in exotic animals.

After running an exotic pet store in Phoenix for more than two decades, the Rexburg couple now own a similar business in eastern Idaho. Custom Creatures Pet Club opened April 2 at 28 College Avenue in Rexburg. It offers a large variety of animals, from lizards, snakes and other reptiles to tarantulas, hedgehogs, chinchillas, guinea pigs, mice, rats, fish and more. Watch Jordan and an employee feed a black-throat monitor lizard in the video above.

A tarantula in its cage at Custom Creatures in Rexburg. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

After two weeks of business, Jordan tells EastIdahoNews.com there seems to be a lot of interest from locals.

“We’ve been pleased to see a lot of families, a few familiar faces coming and going,” Jordan says. “There’s been a few college kids in and out of here as well.”

The Moores have lived in Rexburg their entire lives, and Jordan says there’s never been a pet shop in town. That was part of the reason they wanted to open one. It’s something they first considered about 15 years ago but didn’t start actively pursuing it until about five years ago.

Jordan says Rexburg has finally grown large enough to support a business like this, and he and his wife have high hopes for it.

“Once we get the bugs worked out here, we’ll start hiring folks and be able to take a step back and help manage it,” he says.

They opened a Custom Creatures store in Phoenix around 2003 while Jordan was attending DeVry University. Their interest in this type of venture began after owning the leopard gecko and other exotic creatures.

“My grandparents were farmers … so I’ve always been around animals,” says Jordan. “We didn’t have a lot of land or an ability to keep cows and horses, so we tried something else and it just clicked.”

Educating customers about how to properly care for these kinds of pets is one aspect of the business Jordan finds particularly rewarding.

A lizard inside its cage at Custom Creatures. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

The Moores have been back and forth to Arizona many times over the years, but now that their kids are older and can help run the Phoenix store, they’re glad to focus their efforts on the Rexburg location exclusively.

He expects the types of animals they sell to grow and change, based on customer demand. They’re looking forward to serving patrons going forward.

“I think everybody’s excited for us to be here, and we’re just excited to provide the service for the community,” Maureen says.

Custom Creatures is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

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