The Cat Cafe: Boulder
We're Brooke and Archie, an LGBTQ couple opening Boulder's first cat shelter doubling as a cute, innovative, exciting coffee and tea house.
Your funding will help keep Boulder, Colorado weird. More importantly, you'll be a part of a small group of people who are saving cats' lives everyday.
The Cat Cafe: Boulder is going to be a really interesting space with lots of windows, artwork, tunnels, couches and cat-friendly plants and retail products located in downtown Boulder, Colorado.
Cat Cafe's were started in Japan in the mid-2000's. They're thriving all over Asia and are now popping up in the USA. People have found out how to create a space that serves drinks and includes animals that is FDA approved. In order to meet these health code requirements we'll be limiting our cat population to 10; we'll also be separating the area where we make and serve drinks from the cat-play area.
We're collaborating with people who have owned their own small businesses to make sure The Cat Cafe: Boulder gets off on the right foot. We're also working on a relationship with a local animal shelter for veterinary services.
Our menu will feature a range of caffeinated and non-caffeinated teas and coffees with cat-themed names and designs.
There will be weekly cutest (most handsome, sassiest, sleepiest, et cetera) cat competitions, where cat-owners can send in photos of their cats and people can judge their cuteness level. The winner gets a free admission pass (with drink) into the cat-play area.
We're also going to support local artists of all ages by allowing them to show and sell their art at the cafe.
Brooke
Holman and Archie Millard are going to be in a partnership owning The Cat
Café: Boulder.
We
will be hiring students pursuing animal science and vet degrees from CU and Naropa
part-time.
Where Our Funding is Going
- Half of the overall funding is going towards the cost of renting or mortgaging an awesome retail space downtown.
- The other half will be used for the costs of designing, stocking, and preparing the space for the cats and their people.
- The money we make after we open will fund employee salaries, and additional development to the space.
- We'll also be channeling our energy into gaining grants, and if it comes down to it, bank loans.
The Impact
Shelters are usually over-flowing with cats who are never adopted or fostered. Some people are reluctant to adopt black cats because of superstitions. Many healthy, social cats are put to sleep although they would have been loving pets.
- The Cat Cafe: Boulder will be a foster cafe for many of these cats.
- The Cat Cafe can be a place where people with similar interests can meet.
- Many rental properties don't allow pets. The Cat Cafe can be a space where people, who love cats but can't have them, can come and get some cat-play therapy.
- The Cat Cafe will create several part-time jobs for students.
Risks & Challenges
The biggest challenge is going to be gaining approval from the FDA.
- We plan on completely separating the area we make and serve drinks from the cat-play area. This is working for other cat cafe's opening up in the US.
- We'll be obtaining licenses for boarding animals overnight, as well as food licenses. We will be hiring a vet-assistant part-time who can come in and check-up on the cats in between vet visits.
- We will be installing industrial air purifiers for clearing dander from the air.
Making a safe, cat-friendly space is our biggest priority. This is going to take collaborating with contractors, shelters, and animal experts.
- We plan on partnering with a local Boulder shelter and with local designers to design and build a cat-friendly and human-friendly space.
Boulder has a high-cost of living. This means the cost of owning a business is pretty high too.
- Not only will we be funding our retail space and renovations with crowd funding, but with loans and grants. We plan on breaking even and having a thriving business from the start.
There are many people with pet allergies who probably want to try our drinks and shop in our retail space.
We want everyone to be able to experience The Cat Cafe: Boulder even if they have allergies, so there is the option of watching the cats from behind glass in the front area where we prepare and serve our drink selection without paying an admission fee. This area is going to be un-touched by cats! We'll always bring cats in and out of the building through the back. Additionally, employees who work in the drink area will have to remain outside of the cat-play area until their shift is over. Of course those who can't afford the admission (remember though, it comes with a drink) can also choose to observe from the front area.
There
are many coffee and tea houses in Boulder with which we will need to compete in
terms of price and quality
Our
biggest advantage is that we offer something none of the other café’s do:
1.
A visible cause to which their money is going (not just a for-profit business,
because the money we make takes care of cats and saves cats from euthanization)
2.
Most coffee shops have nothing to do at their establishments besides connect to
Wifi.
Our shop is extremely entertaining, and much more family-friendly than your
average coffee shop.
Other Ways You Can Help
Tell everyone you know about our campaign.
- Share our Indiegogo campaign on your social media walls!
- If you know people who love cats, tell them about us in person!
- If you see one of our flyers on the floor somewhere, pin it back up or RECYCLE it. :)
- One we're up an running we could use cat-supply donations, like litter boxes, cat beds, scratchers, cat toys, highly nutritional and natural food, cat dishes, you name it! Oh, also send us pictures of your cats!
