The man who put chinchillas and canaries in Martha Stewart’s Westport home—where she also keeps seven Himalayan cats—is the new star of Stewarts media empire.
Long IslandҒs Newsday newspaper reported today that Stewart, who built a multimillion-dollar business from her homemaking tips, is branching out into pet care.
Stewarts company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., will launch a new television show, Web site, magazine column and merchandise based on the ideas of Long Island pet-shop owner Marc Morrone of Parrots of the World in Rockville Centre,
It is the first major venture by StewartҒs company to focus on the personality and talents of someone other than its founder.
The Manhattan-based company is taking over production of Morrone’s nationally syndicated TV show, renaming it “Petkeeping with Marc Morrone.” The new, half-hour program is set to debut in September on more than 130 stations nationwide, many affiliated with Fox television.
Stewart told reporters that she first met Morrone in 1998 after she came across his TV show late one night on Cablevision’s Metro Channel. He soon became a frequent guest on her TV program and introduced chinchillas and canaries to her Turkey Hill Road South home.
