It’s official: SLO County’s first-ever cat cafe has its space. Here’s when it could open
The purr-fect cafe for cat lovers is coming to the Central Coast.
After almost a year of searching for the right spot, The Caffeinated Cat Café plans to open in Grover Beach this year.
True to its name, visitors to the cat cafe will be able to sip coffee and eat freshly baked goods among a litter of cute, adoptable kittens from local shelters.
It has been quite the journey for founder Jaime Pierce, the brains behind the feline operation.
“It’s been really hard,” Pierce told The Tribune. “I’ve probably looked at 25, 30 units in the last year.”
Pierce is a longtime cat lover and feline foster care owner, currently fostering three 4-month-old kittens in her home in addition to four of her own cats.
Inspired by her love for the adoption process and her experience at other cat cafes around the country, she decided to open one in her home county over a year ago.
But the process has been an uphill battle.
Between the health code complications created by putting animals in a dining establishment and the fact that the county had never dealt with that kind of permitting before, it took a lot longer than expected to get things moving.
This is not the first cafe of its kind, though. Cat cafes originated in Taiwan in the late 1990s and soon gained popularity around the world.
One has recently been trying to open in Sacramento but cited miscommunication and business costs as reasons for some delays.
Meanwhile, Cat Town in Oakland — the first cat cafe to open in the United States, according to its website — has been successful in expanding its adoption capacity for sheltering cats and providing more specialized services for kittens.
To help Pierce get the permits she needed, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department modeled how San Diego County manages its cat lounges.
In May, Pierce raced to raise $15,000 on Kickstarter to cover the down payment and initial costs on a location. With this seed fund and the appropriate licenses in place, Pierce was finally able to sign a lease in August.
The chosen location for the cafe is at 1601 West Grand Ave., Suite A in Grover Beach.
“The owner was just really passionate about what we’re doing,” Pierce said. “They rescued cats in their past, so they just really loved the concept and they wanted us there. I think that was the driving force to actually get us to be able to have this place.”
Pierce is aiming to open by the end of September, depending on when her building and health department permits come through.
What will the cafe look like?
Pierce has big ideas for the currently empty building.
“It’s so bright and sunny,” she said. “I think you just can’t help but be happy when you walk in.”
As customers enter the open space, they will be greeted by a retail shop with cat-related trinkets like T-shirts, key chains and stickers available for purchase.
From there, they can order a drink and a grab-and-go pastry from the on-site espresso cart sourced daily from local bakeries and coffee roasters.
The real show-stopper, however, is the cat lounge.
Entry to a separate area of the cafe where the feline-friends reside will cost extra, about $18 for 50 minutes, Pierce estimated.
After paying the fee — which would go toward care of the cats and maintenance of the space — visitors would be welcome to play with the kittens while they drink their coffee in the cozy lounge for the allotted time.
If you just can’t say goodbye, though, you won’t have to. All the cats on-site will be available for adoption to take home directly from the cafe.
The business plans to partner with the Cal Poly Cat Program and the Feline Network of the Central Coast to foster around 10 cats at a time, Pierce said.
Healthy cats will come from the rescue shelters or associated foster homes and live onsite in the cafe until adopted. Pierce said 100% of the adoption fees will go back to the nonprofits.
“We’re really acting as just a large foster home,” Pierce said.
She hoped to later add a cheaper, half-hour option to visit the cat lounge and host special events like painting or cat yoga in the space, too.
“I envision a hub where people can just come and relax and have some downtime from our busy lives,” Pierce said. “I really want to make a difference in the lives of the people that come to our cafe just by providing a really fun experience that you just can’t do anywhere else.”
She added: “But just as much, I want to make a difference in the lives of the cats by being able to find homes for many more cats than our rescues could typically do.”
