Our Bear Bailey Story

Bear Bailey’s Co-op & Grocery didn’t begin as a store.

It began as a story. 

After losing my grandmother and our beloved Great Pyrenees, Enzo, in the same year, I entered the holiday season with no desire to celebrate. The house felt quieter than it should have for a long time afterward.

The only thing that helped was writing.

And in doing so, I found myself returning to a simple truth:
life is richer because of the dogs who walk beside us. And even knowing how their stories with us end so very quickly… we would never choose not to begin again.

Out of that reflection came Bear Bailey—a big-hearted dog who, at his lowest moment, wonders if the people he loves would have been better off without him.

In telling his story, something in me began to mend.

Not long after, Bear made his way into the world—and others began to see their own dogs in him. Their memories. Their love. Their grief.

Which became the heart of the It’s a Wonderful Dog series.

Welcome to Merivelle 

Bear Bailey’s Co-op & Grocery is inspired by the fictional town of Merivelle, Kansas—a warm, close-knit community where people show up for one another.

This shop is an extension of that world.

The candles carry the scents of Merivelle’s seasons.
The books hold its stories.
And each piece is chosen with care for the people—and pets—who matter most.

A place where stories are shared, and no one stays a stranger for long.

"The Ending Is Never the End"

That’s the truth Bear discovers.
And it’s the truth we hold onto here.

For those remembering…
and for those still in the middle of loving a very wonderful dog—

You’re our kind of people.