BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Years after a fire burned down a mainstay for exotic pets in Whatcom County, a new shop opened just blocks away to fill the need for out-of-the-ordinary pet care. As long-time locals know, nothing quite beats the listlessness of a rainy day in Bellingham like stepping into a haven of niche critters.

Kementari’s Creatures sits on Chestnut Street in downtown Bellingham, nestled between a bar and a poké restaurant. It doesn’t smell like a traditional pet store. Inside, soothing overhead lights and aisles of animal enclosures packed with foliage offer reprieve from the downtown commotion. The warm interior and rich wood paneled ceilings and walls calm the nerves.

Plus, there’s no shortage of dart frogs, ball pythons and tarantulas to peruse.

Interior of Kementari’s Creatures on Chestnut Street in Bellingham. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker

Four years ago, Ed Curtis and his wife Leslie packed up and moved their Mount Vernon shop closer to home. They arrived in Bellingham a few years after a downtown fire destroyed Clark’s Feed and Seed store in 2019, leaving a vacancy in the exotic pet store industry. Curtis said that before they moved locations, there was no competition for exotic pets and products in Mount Vernon.

A lot of people consider aesthetically-pleasing, cute, furry animals when they think of pets. These animals, reminiscent of charismatic megafauna like pandas and big cats, are the top sellers at big-name pet stores and animal shelters.

Growing up in Kansas, Curtis has memories of his early introduction to less-popular companions. 

A ball python curled up on a dais with traditional meso-American carved etched into it. Ball pythons are a popular snake species to own as a pet. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker
A blue-tongued skink in an enclosure at Kementari’s Creatures. This species of skink is considered friendly when kept as a pet. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker

“You had dogs and cats and maybe a parakeet somewhere in a pet shop. But really I used to try to keep frogs,” he said. “We had lots of frogs and toads and crawdads. A little perch we’d try to catch in the creeks that were in Kansas. And then we’d take them home in our wagon and try to keep them alive. It didn’t always go so well back then because you just didn’t know. Nobody had any experience with this stuff.”

“Ever since I was a kid, I was just kind of fascinated with other forms of life.” – Ed Curtis

Curtis was a math and science teacher before diving into reptile and insect sales. He credits his interest in reptiles, amphibians and insects to his teaching days.

Despite the store’s success, Curtis admits that he’s not very business-minded.  

“One of the things I left teaching for was all the constraints they put on us for controlling our classroom made it impossible to teach, and so I wasn’t successful. I feel like in this shop, if the shop fails, it’s kind of on me,” he said. “And its rewarding that we’ve been fairly successful, at least for a little niche reptile shop.” 

Kementari’s does business with a range of stores across western Washington and local sellers. Curtis works with breeders and maintains his own pet projects. The shop also lists animals for sale online with regional shipping. The diverse selection of creatures draws discerning buyers to the shop. Their top seller: Tarantulas. Ed says there’s a good reason for it.  

“If you go over to the big box stores, they’ll have like one or two tarantula. And we have maybe a hundred species at any given time. So we attract people from all over. People drive up from Tacoma. They drive over from Anacortes and down from Canada.”  

Pet owners know that taking care of one creature can be a time-consuming task. Maintaining a shop filled with animals is another feat entirely.  

“We just try to do as much as we can each day. It’s a lot. I mean, we have in our care – including tarantula – we probably have 500 or 600 animals. Some of them don’t require daily care, but some of them do,” Curtis said. 

Interior of Kementari’s Creatures on Chestnut Street in Bellingham. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker

Kementari’s, though packed with exotic pets and products, has a relatively small showroom floor. Curtis mentioned he’d like to expand the shop, but at the mercy of the world’s uncertainties, he has reason for hesitation. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Curtis picking out a store in Mount Vernon with a large side room that he could dedicate to teaching classes and working on projects. The plans to expact what Kementari’s offered was put on hold however as the pandemic got underway.

With the online reptile industry booming, Curtis chose to turn the area into a breeding area in order to keep the doors open.

“When I look at the risk and the cost of expanding, getting basically a second shop, it’s kind of scary to take that leap right now,” Curtis said. “And you’re like, ‘It’s working right now. Let’s not mess with it. Let’s not rock the boat,’ you know.”

Curtis says its rewarding seeing Kementari’s succeed. For both its owner and those who depend on it for their pet needs, the shop is a testament to the community’s passion for unique animals.

The exterior of Kementari’s Creatures on Chestnut Street in Bellingham. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker

We are Whatcom is a weekly column featuring Whatcom County residents making a positive impact on the community. To submit a Whatcom County resident to be featured, click here.