Kickstarter launched for Kelowna cat cafe
Cat lovers will be a fan of a new cafe aiming to showcase furry felines in Kelowna.
Kelowna resident Ashley Karnes recently launched a Kickstarter for Catelowna, a cat cafe, pending city and Interior Health approvals, aiming to open in the city’s downtown.
Cat cafes were originally made popular in Taiwan in the late 1990s and have spread to 37 countries, according to the Kickstarter. Karnes' cat cafe will be a normal coffee shop but also feature adoptable cats, she said.
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In 2019, Karnes left the food and beverage industry as a chef and decided she wanted to help rescued animals find homes. She thought the cat cafe was a perfect concept and began visiting cat cafes in the Lower Mainland and the U.S.
In Canada, cats are separated from food service and prep areas, so the cat cafe will have separate rooms for the animals apart from the coffee shop. Walls and doors will separate the space and will also include places for the cats to climb and hide. Staff will also be on hand to clean up after the kitties and keep the space clean.
“It’s kind of like an animal shelter that has a cafe attached to it,” Karnes said.
Karnes is currently in talks with a landlord for a downtown location. If all goes well with Interior Health and the city, she hopes to open sometime in March 2023. She’s been working on the concept since 2019 but then the pandemic put a wrench in her plans.
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“It’s not like I can build it and just open the door straight away. The cats need to get comfortable and the city needs to get comfortable,” she said. “It’s such a new concept that I’m really kind of testing.”
The adoptable cats will come from local shelters and most of the proceeds from the cafe’s entrance fee and food and beverages will go towards the non-profits.
The $15,000 she hopes to raise with the Kickstarter is a high mark, she said, and if raised she will use the funds to "catify" the space.
“I'm accepting all eventualities, if it fails, that’s OK. If it passes, that’s great too, it means I can do more with the space.”
Karnes is also renting a property with a farm on it and hopes it will grow into something larger.
“That’s why my tagline is ‘helping animals, helping humans’ because I see this as a growth option and would love to hold adoptions further down the line, so I really hope this works out,” she said.
The Kickstarter can be found online.
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