Cat Cafe Could Soon Be Coming to Providence
GoLocalProv Lifestyle Team and News Editor Kate Nagle
Cat Cafe Could Soon Be Coming to Providence
If dreams come true, a cat cafe could soon be coming to a location near you.
Max and Kaylin Mugica-Drumm, who recently wed last September, have already launched a website — and social media presence — for “Cafe Gato” on Facebook and Instagram, and are encouraging people to “join them on their journey to become Providence’s first ever cat cafe.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGoLocal reached out to the duo to find out more.
“The idea of bringing a cat café to Providence came to life in October of last year when [we] were on our way to a wedding in Michigan and came across Happy Cat Café in Grand Rapids, Michigan,” said the couple.
Max, who is originally from Cuba and moved to the United States eight years ago, and Kaylin, a born and raised Rhode Islander, both adopted their dog Kirby during the pandemic and said they “fell in love with shelter animals and the mission of adopting.”
“Animals have always been a part of our lives, where Max at one point had about six animals, made up of cats and dogs, in his house in Cuba. On top of this, we both love a good cup of coffee. Cuba is known for its amazing coffee where Max basically grew up drinking it since he was a toddler,” said the couple. “After the amazing and stress-relieving experience at Happy Cat Cafe enjoying coffee in the presence of cats, we both had the same question; why is there nothing like this in Providence yet?”
And with that, the idea of Cafe Gato was born.
“Although we have been keeping an eye on locations, specifically in the Downtown Providence area or College Hill area in close proximity to all the colleges in Providence, we still have a lot of work to do before finding a place,” they said. “The biggest hurdle being the startup costs to make this possible."
"Our vision for the cat café requires a space big enough to house both a café side that offers a sit-down environment for our guests to enjoy coffee and work, study, or chat with friends, and an area for the cat lounge side to house our feline residents," they added. "This, on top of the costs for overhead, inventory, and all the fun expenses that go into building your own business, our startup costs are high.”
For now, the couple is looking to amass support on social media for their effort.
"The biggest thing at the moment that would help us is aid on continuing to grow our following on both Instagram and Facebook and continue to spread the word," they said.
So if you like cats, coffee, and the potential for the combination of both in the city, be sure to like and follow the links above in the article.