Wichita’s first ‘cat cafe’ is coming: Owners hope to open it by September
Attention crazy cat ladies and gents of Wichita: Soon, you will have a coffee shop to call your own.
A trio of cat-loving friends are working on plans to open Wichita’s first cat cafe. Though they haven’t secured a space yet, they hope to have the cafe open by September.
The business, said co-owner Christina Duncan, will be called Cafe Purrfict and it will provide coffee along with “feline companionship.” The cafe will house 10 to 20 rescue cats at a time — all available for adoption — that customers can mingle with while enjoying their beverages.
Duncan, whose partners are David Slaughter and Xander Gibson, said the trio has been dreaming about opening a cat cafe for a while. It’s a growing trend, and nearby places like Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Branson already have cat cafes that are doing booming business, she said.
“They’re popping up all around us, and I know that if we don’t do this, someone else is going to,” she said.
Duncan, a dog person who recently adopted a stray tabby now named Walter, has since become a “crazy cat lady,” she said. While on vacation in Branson recently, she tried to visit a cat cafe called Mochas and Meows. She showed up only to find the line stretching out the door. Other cat cafes in nearby cities are already making expansion plans.
The owners have in recent days been posting their logo on social media and teasing the cafe. They decided to push ahead with their plans last week when they learned that Common Grounds Coffee House, which operates out of a 2,800-square-foot, three-story house at 2812 E. Douglas, was closing and that the house was going up for sale. Duncan said on Tuesday that they planned to pursue the property, but later that day, owners of The Coop in Derby said they had purchased it.
The trio prefers a property downtown or on the east side, Duncan said. Once they secure one, she said, they’ll immediately start whatever remodeling is needed. Though they’re still studying regulations for food businesses that also house animals, they know for sure that they will have to have separate air circulation for their food prep and cat kennel/mingling areas.
Cat cafe and cat rescue
The owners plan to work with a cat rescue in Derby called Save the Kitties. The cats that occupy the cafe will be carefully selected for their “friendly and sociable nature.” Customers won’t be able to bring their own cats to the cafe, though.
Cafe Purrfict’s will offer coffees, teas, smoothies and other beverages along with sandwiches and desserts. The owners plan to source local ingredients as much as they can. Duncan said they hope to make the food and drink so good that even non-cat people will enjoy visiting.
The cafe also will have a retail area, and the owners plan to put on events and activities like cat yoga, private parties and educational workshops
Duncan is the founder of Flow Foundry Studio, a local circus performing arts school, and Slaughter has been a small business owner in the past and is a lover of “all things cats and coffee related.”
Stay tuned for updates on the cafe as plans progress.
This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 4:42 PM.
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