Often, when loyal customers stop in at Denny’s Pet World in its new location on Northeast 124th Street in Kirkland, they’re on the lookout for a faithful staple at the 42-year-old business.

Not John Fleshman, who bought the business from his brother in 1985. Not Kelly Parsons, who has worked at the store for 28 years and currently manages the place.

They’re looking for Tiki, the store’s resident macaw.

“People come in specifically to see her, and they’re like, ‘Where is she?'” said Parsons, pausing to point at Tiki’s bright red, yellow and blue feathers that peek through a window above the store’s entrance. “They come to the front counter and ask, and it’s like, ‘back up.'”

Tiki is one of the final pieces to settle in during the relocation process for Denny’s Pet World, once the first business to sign a lease in the upper section of Totem Lake Malls in 1974.

With the removal of the mall complex during the last few months, Denny’s was forced to move. But moving a pet store is more than boxing up chew toys and stuffing cat food in the back of a pickup truck.

“It was a lot of work,” Parsons said. “We got stuff decreased, kind of thinning out the inventory with sales and stuff like that before we left, so we didn’t have as many things to move. But the big show tank was hard. You had to break [the contents] down, put it in something temporary, move [the tank] over here, get it running again, and then bring the stuff over here.”

Construction on the store’s current location began in December, and was finished by late January.

The new building is taller than the original store, but is smaller by around 5,000 square feet. Better organization and a slightly more selective collection of fish tanks for sale mean the store is not only back on its feet, but is actually doing well.

One of the main additions can be easily spotted near the entrance: a cat adoption room where customers can walk in and meet the future furry companions face-to-face. The cats, all of which were sound asleep on Monday afternoon, have a fish tank for their enjoyment, along with an assortment of handmade shelves, snoozing nooks and towers on which they can climb.

“People come in and look to see if they want them, but people come in just to pet them,” Parsons said.

The store also has two dog-washing stations, and immediately to the left…

“We have baby birds,” Parsons said, motioning to a small parrot chewing on a minature version of a Croc shoe. “They’ve been selling really well since we moved here. I think we have more exposure here than we had at the other place.”

The fish section, which takes up a massive back corner of the store, is still under construction. The saltwater section still needs work, as does the live aquatic plant area.

The store also plans to continue with regular adoption events, including monthly cat and kitten adoptions and the annual rescue adoption event on July 10. Last year, 90 animals were adopted in four hours. In 2014, more than 100 animals were adopted.

The parking in the new location is considerably smaller than at Totem Lake Malls, but Parsons said the customers should be able to use designated parking at certain surrounding businesses during major events on weekends.

“The parking lot is the biggest disadvantage, but we have enough parking 99 percent of the time,” Parsons said. “It will be hard for sales, but hopefully we can work with the businesses around us.”