Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic veterinarian Ernesto Dominguez tends to a patient. (Photos courtesy Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic)
Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic is in expansion mode after changing hands last summer and adding a new doctor who attracts new sorts of patients beyond cats and dogs.
The long-running veterinary practice has relocated to a new 5,000-square-foot space within The Shops at Lucks Lane in the Rockwood area of Chesterfield County.
The new location, where the clinic opened earlier this week, is about four times larger than the adjacent storefront it previously occupied.
The move comes after the practice was purchased last August by Companion Animal Partners LLC, which is owned by local businessman and investor Michael Congdon. The expansion was also prompted by the arrival of veterinarian Ernesto Dominguez, known as Dr. Ernesto to colleagues, who joined the practice in September.
Joining from Wellesley Animal Hospital in Henrico, Dominguez focuses on what the industry classifies as exotic animals, a catch-all term that refers to everything that isn’t a cat, dog or farmyard animal.
Congdon said that Dominguez has made a name for himself taking care of fish, birds, reptiles and small mammals. It’s a niche that draws in new clientele and requires the right amount of space in the right location, Congdon said.
“I would not have purchased Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic if there was no Dr. Ernesto or there was no vacant space next door,” Congdon said. “It was a conversation that had been going on for a long time, and the planets finally aligned to allow all parties involved to pull the trigger. He needed a space that was convenient to the highway systems, as he has clients who travel long distances for his expertise.”
Michael Congdon
Congdon is hoping for more new arrivals, too. He said the clinic is aiming to increase its team to eight full-time veterinarians and 30 support staff and is now hiring to fill positions.
The clinic currently has an eight-person permanent team that consists of two vets, three veterinary assistants and office staffers. There are also rotating vets and other staff.
The practice opened in its new location in the G suite of 1108 Courthouse Road on April 9. It formerly occupied the K suite. The practice is planning a grand-opening event May 1.
Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic, which has been in business since 2004, is the third local veterinary practice that Congdon’s company has purchased in recent years. He also owns Chesterfield-based Town & Country Veterinary Clinic at 7416 Woodpecker Road and Fan Veterinary Clinic at 307 N. Robinson St. in Richmond. He bought those in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Congdon formerly produced music at In Your Ear Studios, and he bought the studio’s building in Shockoe Bottom in 2021. He also co-founded Tangier Island Oyster Co.
Congdon said he was motivated to scoop up local veterinary practices amid a trend in the industry of large, out-of-town private equity firms buying up and consolidating veterinary clinics as their local owners age and exit the business.
“As the Baby Boomer veterinarians are retiring, all these mom-and-pop veterinary clinics are being gobbled up by large corporate consolidators. I’m seeing the Richmond market being gobbled up by these enterprises,” Congdon said. “It’s taking away a sense of community.”
Sensitive to that trends, Congdon said he has no intention of flipping the clinics anytime soon.
“It’s a long-term buy and hold,” he said, adding that he is interested in buying more veterinary practices.
Terms of the Lucks Lane clinic acquisition weren’t disclosed.
The business, which continues to serve cats and dogs in addition to exotic animals, has six exam rooms, two of them dedicated to exotic animals, as well as ultrasound and X-ray imaging equipment and a dental suite. Congdon said that it is the only general practice veterinary clinic he knows of that also has a CT scanner, and that it cost about $1 million to build out and equip the new space.
Minnesota-based TerWisscha Construction was the project’s general contractor and handled design of the space.
“Mom-and-pop veterinary clinics are being gobbled up by large corporate consolidators…It’s taking away a sense of community” says the man who is gobbling up veterinary clinics and looking for more to purchase lol. Google “Cognitive Dissonance”
His rather transparent (lame) attempt at rationalization is particularly entertaining. He wants to preserve a sense of community as he amasses a basket full of vet practices that he will eventually sell… to a large corporate consolidator.
Cock a doodle ca-ching
He is buying them true up but as a relative of a late baby boomer who sold their Ambassador Animal Hospital clinic to VCA in the 2000s and then “retired;” he, with most of the staffers, started a new practice in Powhatan before he died. The national firms and venture capitalists have truly not only ran up pricing but have resulted in the loss of some very good clinics. At least Michael has a local vested interest and is a local corporate owner versus a national group like VCA. If I have issues with local firms like this or Richmond… Read more »
These local vets have become so expensive.