Woof Gang Conway: The Ranked Groomer on East Michigan Street
Conway's only ranked business is a pet bakery and grooming spa — No. 5 in Orlando with a Net Score of 91.5. Inside the Michigan Street shop Conway's dogs run on.
3 minute read
Conway is a dog neighborhood — fenced yards, canal streets made for evening walks, and a dog park that functions as a social club. It follows that Conway’s one entry in this paper’s Top Businesses rankings is a place for dogs: Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming Conway, at 4574 E. Michigan Street, ranked No. 5 among Orlando’s pet groomers and boarding services with a Net Score of 91.5 in our Best Pet Groomers in Orlando rankings.
A bakery, a spa and a supply store in one room
The Woof Gang formula, executed here by a locally owned and operated Conway shop, splits three ways. First, the bakery: gourmet dog treats, the kind displayed like a human bakery case and bought, mostly, by humans who cannot resist them. Second, the retail floor: healthy pet foods, supplies and accessories, curated tighter than a big-box aisle. Third — and this is the ranked part — the grooming salon: full grooms, mini grooms, spa baths, de-shedding treatments and nail trims, delivered by pet stylists whose stated brief is a stress-free, gentle, calm appointment.
That last point is the shop’s whole pitch and, in a category built on trust, the right one. Grooming is a service you hand your dog over for; the Conway store describes its stylists as dedicated to making the experience relaxing rather than merely efficient, and its local following — the shop has been serving Conway since 2018 — suggests the neighborhood has voted with its leashes.
What a full groom actually includes
The ranked service deserves a closer look. A full grooming appointment at the Conway shop is built as a head-to-tail session: a bath with shampoo and conditioner, hand drying rather than a cage dryer, full-body brushing and styling, nail trimming, gentle ear cleansing and a sanitary trim — the unglamorous details that separate a spa groom from a wash. Around that core sit the add-ons Conway’s lake dogs actually need: de-shedding treatments for the double-coated breeds who treat the chain as a swimming pool, and mini grooms for maintenance between full appointments.
The retail side earns its floor space too. Woof Gang’s national reputation was built on pet nutrition — natural and specialty foods, including the raw and grain-free diets the brand is known for — and the Conway store stocks to that standard, with staff whose job includes talking owners through food choices. It is the rare pet store where the advice is part of the product.
How Conway uses it
The rhythm is familiar to anyone in the area: a dog who has spent the morning doing honest work in the dog park at Barber Park gets booked in for the full treatment, and the owner leaves with a clean dog, a bag of bakery treats and, frequently, a bandana situation. It is also the neighborhood’s default answer to the visiting-relatives problem, the shedding-season problem and the skunk-adjacent problems of lakeside living. Our Dog’s Day in Conway itinerary pairs the shop with the park in the order locals actually do them.
For context on the category: the No. 1 spot in these rankings is profiled in the category winner’s feature — Woof Gang Conway’s No. 5 finish, at 91.5, puts it within a few points of the top of a competitive Orlando field, and it is the only Conway business ranked anywhere in the paper so far. In a neighborhood the rankings have barely reached, that makes this Michigan Street storefront the standard-bearer.
The verdict
Woof Gang Conway is not the cheapest way to wash a dog, and it does not try to be. It is a neighborhood pet store that treats grooming as a spa appointment, stocks food and treats a cut above the supermarket, and has held a top-five ranking in a citywide category while doing it. Conway’s dogs, who are numerous and vocal, approve.
Find it on the Conway hub and plotted on the Top Spots Map.
Orlando Citizen by email
The weekly edition, in your inbox
One email, every Saturday: the week’s edition of Orlando Citizen — the week’s stories, rankings and winners, gathered in one place. Free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Related Stories
Editor’s Picks
Spotted an error? Tell us — corrections · How we rank
