Most local folks know Desert Dog Offroad Adventures for their hummer and buggy tours, but owners Jay and Michelle Hoff hope customers will drop by more often now that they’ve opened a brand new storefront tailored to outdoor enthusiasts.

When the Hoffs took over Desert Dog, they knew that they wanted to keep the company’s backbone the same as ever. That means they still offer a wide variety of desert excursions including buggy adventures, couples trips, Hummer tours, corporate outings and more. But to complement all of that knocking about in the dirt, they decided to enhance their offerings with an expanded mechanical shop that specializes in off-road vehicles and a fully stocked storefront.

“We still do the off-road tours, but we’ve added a service center and expanded it,” Michelle Hoff explained. “We do all off-road including Jeep, side-by-side, ATVs, UTVs, dirt bikes…you name it. Then we added an entire off-road and outdoor shop.”

Hoff ran down an extensive list of items available in the shop including fishing tackle, live bait, guns and ammo, dirt bike equipment including tires, VP Racing Fuel, camping gear and more.

“Plus we can order anything,” Hoff explained. “We’re also certified Rough Country installers [suspension kits, lift kits, etc.]”

The Hoffs have been self-employed for 22 years, originally from the restaurant business.

“We still have a restaurant in Rhode Island,” Hoff explained. “We’ve had that for over 20 years and having that personalized touch with customers is how we handle business, no matter which business it is.”

Hoff said that Jay has always been an outdoorsman and the couple was very excited by the opportunity to take over Desert Dog about a year and a half ago. They dreamed at the time of expanding to include a robust storefront, which is now open for business.

“We nurture our customers,” Hoff continued. “We want them to be happy. We never turn and burn; we’re not that kind of place. It’s all about the relationships with our customers and that seems to be working pretty well…We also maintained the staff and are really happy to have them along.”

Looking ahead, Hoff said anyone looking to have some fun outdoors should give Desert Dog a look. Whether it’s lifting a Jeep, prepping for a fishing trip or planning a unique off-road tour with friends and family, they aim to accommodate all desert adventures.

“The adventure tours are obviously a big part of this company,” Hoff said. “We rent Jeeps and buggies or we can take you on tours ourselves. We also do desert catering for tours and can accommodate pretty large groups. There are also a lot of planned events; we recently held a Jeeping 101 class, for instance.”

Desert Dog Offroad Adventures is located at 17212 E. Shea Blvd. and can be reached at 480-837-3966. The full suite of tour offerings can be viewed at azadventures.com, along with a calendar of upcoming events.

“A lot of people don’t know the business is under new ownership and there have been a lot of changes,” Hoff said. “You should stop by, check us out and see what’s new.”