Cats may soon transition from being the subject of funny emails and Internet memes to a regular part of getting a cup of coffee each morning. Cat cafés are starting to be a new entrepreneurial trend.
The concept is a mixture between a coffeehouse and an adoption facility. Food and drink preparation happens in one part of the café, then customers can bring their food and beverages into the other part of the building, where they can play with the cats while enjoying their coffee or snacks.
Cat Town Café in Oakland, Calif. is the first business of its kind to open in the U.S. The café’s grand opening was October 25.
Reservations for opening weekend were fully booked two weeks before the opening. The second and third weekend of business were fully reserved in advance as well.
Six to 12 cats roam through the play area, interacting with customers. There is also a human-free area for the cats to retreat to if they get overwhelmed by the play area.
Cat Town Café’s founders were both cat enthusiasts before opening the business. Ann Dunn was the founder of Cat Town, a nonprofit focused on cat rescue. Adam Myatt has a website called Cat Man of West Oakland where he focuses on cat photography.
The business partners raised some of the money for their café through crowdsourcing, making $40,000 from Indiegogo. Pet Food Express contributed $20,000 and other grants and donations helped raise the rest of the capital.
Finding homes for cats who may not otherwise get adopted is the reason behind opening the café. Though Dunn told Mashable that the café concept is more stressful and takes more work, it is worth it if it helps more cats find homes.
This concept is especially helpful for cats that are older or shy and don’t always flourish in a shelter environment. Seeing these cats in a positive setting may help keep them from being overlooked by potential adopters.
Though only one cat café is open in the U.S. so far, there are similar businesses in the works in cities like Seattle, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Portland, Ore.
Crowdfunding campaigns for others are in the works on websites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter.
Pet cafés may be new to America, but Japan has had them for years. In areas where pets are not allowed in apartments, spending time in one of these cafés can be a happy alternative.
