SuppliedGood news stressed-out students: you might soon have a permanent place to relieve your exam stresses — and it involves coffees and petting kitties. Edmonton’s seen pop-up cat cafés in the city before, but two cat and coffee lovers are looking to set up one of these feline-inhabited hubs for more than just a weekend.
Chanel Lethbridge and Garry Chang of The Purrfect Cup launched an ambitious Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign last month detailing their quest to open Edmonton’s first permanent cat café. A fundraising goal of $40,000 was set with the intent of speeding along the realization of their vision, and as a way of incorporating the local community in the opening of the location. The location has yet to be announced but their ambition is to create a relaxing café space that can be shared by both patrons and resident cats. While the campaign has not yet reached its goal, Lethbridge explains that everything is in place for the grand opening.
“We have everything together and ready to go,” says Lethbridge. “We will definitely still be opening regardless of how the crowdfunding pans out.”
While the crowdfunding money has helped offset some costs, the actual launching of the café is not at all dependent on the achievement of the Indiegogo target. Furthermore, she assures the project is moving along, saying that they are looking to open up shop somewhere in central Edmonton within the next three to six months.
The prospective café is intended for anyone who loves animals, but is meant to be especially helpful to those who crave animal affection but cannot have their own pets. Unlike the pop-up events we’ve seen so far, Lethbridge and Chang’s café would be able to offer a greater number of individuals the chance to experience the joys of sipping a cappuccino in the presence of free-roaming cats. While it’s been wonderful to see Edmonton support cat cafés so enthusiastically these past few months, the spectacular popularity of these fleeting pop-ups means the limited tickets are often completely sold out in a day or two, leaving a lot of disappointed would-be attendees out in the cold. The Purrfect Cup hopes to be the remedy to that problem: year-round cats and food for less expensive rates than its “limited-time-only” counterparts.
Like traditional cat cafés around the world, The Purrfect Cup will allow visitors to stop by, study, chat, and enjoy snacks and drinks while in the company of therapeutic feline companions. All cats featured at the café will come from local animal shelters, and shelter personnel will facilitate the adoptions of these cats by café visitors.
While the menu has not yet been finalized, Lethbridge says the café will serve a selection of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, including baked goods, sandwiches, and various beverages along with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options to ensure that everyone can feel welcome and included.
“We’ll have all kinds of (food and drink) options,” says Lethbridge. “We want everyone to be able to come down, have fun, and hang out with the cats.”
If you’d like the contribute to The Purrfect Cup’s crowdfunding campaign the donation page can be found here.
