A cat café is coming to downtown Springfield.
“We’ve been familiar with them for some time;
we honeymooned in Japan where they’re originally from,” said Samantha Enz, who
is launching The Cats’ Pyjamas, 413 E. Adams St., in conjunction with her
husband, Tom Raymond. “About six years ago, Tom was diagnosed with Stage 3
colon cancer and when he was going through treatment, he really wished he had a
relaxing place to go and hang out, other than staying at home. Then around two
years ago, we really started trying to figure out how to make this work,” she
said.
The Cats’ Pyjamas will initially occupy the front room of the building between Café Moxo and The Elf Shelf Books & Music that was most recently home to Out on Adams, although Enz said that once renovations are completed, it will expand to include more space.
“People will pay an admission fee of around $5 and there will be cats wandering around that you can interact with, pet and play with,” Erz said. “All of them will be adoptable.”
The couple is working with the Animal Protective
League, who will supply the cats, and Enz hopes to have 10-15 cats occupying
the café at a time. Enz said they are also in discussions with area businesses
to have prepackaged food available, plus coffee and other drinks, or patrons are
welcome to bring their own food and drinks. “If you want to go next door to Café
Moxo and get a box lunch to bring over, that’s perfectly fine,” said Enz. “And
people who work downtown can stop by if they don’t want to eat lunch in their
breakroom.”
Enz said she and Raymond plan to have The Cats’
Pyjamas open for pop-up events during the Old Capitol Holiday Walks and hope to
be ready to officially open by Jan. 8. Beginning Sunday, Dec. 10, Raymond and
Twin City Trivia will host a series of music bingo events to help raise funds.
Enz said she is encouraged by the initial success
of a similar cat café in Bloomington. “They’ve already had 54 adoptions in
three months,” she said. “If you go to a shelter and see cats in cages, that’s
one thing, but it’s different if you go somewhere and one jumps in your lap.
And it’s a better transition for the cats from shelter life to home life.”
The hours of operation haven’t been
finalized, but Enz said The Cats’ Pyjamas will be open seven days a week. “The goal
is for this to be a relaxing lounge environment for anyone who wants a place to
go.”
