After falling in love with the process of fostering cats, Cal Poly alumni Jaime Pierce is decided to open a cat cafe in San Luis Obispo: The Caffeinated Cat Cafe.
Pierce has fostered cats with organizations including The Cal Poly Cat Program and the Feline Network of the Central Coast for the last few years.
“I love making a difference in the cat’s lives and helping people find a cat. The whole experience is really fun,” she said. “I just really wanted to do it on a much bigger scale.”
Currently, Pierce’s greatest challenge is finding a space to open the Cat Cafe. Residing in Arroyo Grande, she is also interested in locations in Grover Beach and Pismo Beach, but believes San Luis Obispo would be a great area.
“It’s strange, a lot of owners just say no right off the bat,” she said. “They don’t even want to hear about it. Whereas the community and everybody that hears the concept is just so excited.”
Pierce is aiming to open this cafe within six to eight weeks of signing a lease. Her goal is to be open this summer or in the fall before students come back to school.
“It’ll depend on what condition the space is in and how much work we need to do…I’m hoping for the fastest turnout though, I’m so ready,” she said.
Pierce’s current partners are the Cal Poly Cat Program and the Feline Network of the Central Coast to host the adoptable cats.
According to Feline Network of the Central Coast President Debra Holt, the ability to have cats in a cat cafe will allow more cats to be adopted and for their team to rescue more cats, since the Feline Network does not have a permanent shelter.
“The more exposure that our cats that are adoptable can get the more likely we are to be able to find a permanent home…especially for some of our older cats who maybe just don’t grab people right away,” Holt said.
Cal Poly Cat Program President Natalie Seiler is excited at the opportunity to showcase the cats and help them get adopted.
“We have a lot of cats here that are in the shelter but they’re super friendly and I think they do really well just to have them in a comfortable spot for them to be hanging out where people can see them in their natural environments,” Seiler said.
According to Cal Poly Cat Program Shelter Manager Abbey Brown, having their cats in a cat cafe will help them get more visiting hours during the day.
“Since we are a program run by full-time students, we don’t have typical hours of operation,” Brown said. “So that’s like kind of one of the biggest barriers for getting cats adopted out because people can’t just like come in and see them whatever they want.”
Surprised by her growing social media presence on Instagram, @thecaffeinatedcatcafe_ca, Pierce is excited about the positive feedback coming from local community members.
“To me, that’s a success, just like reminding me that the community really wants this and that it’s gonna be an experience that we just don’t have here,” she said.
When Pierce was in college, she was a barista where she learned her interest in the “cafe experience.” Once open, she initially plans to have a smaller-scale coffee cart instead of a coffee bar.
“I like a good cup of coffee and I care about where it’s roasted and how it’s done.” Pierce said. “And so, yeah, honestly I haven’t run a cafe on my own, but I’ve been doing a ton of research in preparation for how to do this.”
Understanding the challenges of keeping up with a busy life, Pierce hopes that people will be able to come, gather with others and relax with the cats.
“It’s not just a coffee shop. It’s a place where you grab your coffee and then you go sit and have a cat purring on your lap,” she said. “It’s just a really unique experience, and I’m excited to let the community experience that.”