Cafe Meow
The new cat cafe, located in Minneapolis, “Cafe Meów” is a big hit with locals.
More stories from Bree Carey
On Friday, Feb 16, Cafe Meów opened its doors as the first cat cafe in Minnesota. By noon, the cafe was filled with eager customers waiting to try the food and more importantly, pet the cats.
The business got its start on the popular crowd sourcing website KickStarter. One of the founders, Danielle Rasmussen, shared the benefits of starting out with the help of the community.
“We have been planning the cat cafe since 2014. Our first Kickstarter was in 2015 after we had a lot of the concept organized. The funds from the first Kickstarter helped us market over several months and supported the business during our search for a location,.” Rasmussen said. “The second Kickstarter helped us with our renovation costs.”
Now that the cafe is open, the customers poured into the door and waited at tables for an hour to get their chance to sit with the cats.
To clear up any confusion, this is not a place to bring your cat where they drink a small cup of coffee and read some newspaper. The cat cafe is designed for people who want to spend more time with very social cats, as a place to meet, drink coffee, and get your fill of kitten snuggles from mild tempered foster cats.
The cafe keeps both the customers and cats safe with two rooms, one that holds the cats, and one that holds the cafe. This way they do not violate any food laws and people who might be allergic to cats can still come and enjoy their treats.
According to three high school students, Grae, age 13, Sophie, age 14 and Katie, age 13, the cafe is a fun experience. Grae shared that he didn’t get to interact with cats much, as everyone in his family is severely allergic.
“This place is so fun,” Sophie said. She shared that she enjoyed her Peach tea, but mostly was enjoying the cats.
When speaking to high school seniors at Prior Lake, Maria and Hannah, they expressed that the only thing they would change is allowing more people in to pet the cats at once.
The cat room has limited capacity and you must purchase a time slot to go in. The system is set up to ensure that the cats remain happy and the humans stay safe.
Rasmussen said that the main goal of Cafe Meów is not only to entertain, but “is to find homes for cats. Another goal is to provide cat companionship to people who can’t have cats at home for whatever reason.”
As of Thursday, Feb. 22, three cats have already found their forever homes, with the first adoption occuring only two days after opening.
With cat room reservations being booked out weeks ahead, and only a handful of time openings in the next week, it appears that the Cafe Meów is a hit with the local cat lovers.
