Frisky Business ‘cat cafe’ opens in Palm Springs

After 16 months of preparation, the Coachella Valley’s first “cat cafe” has opened in the Rimrock Plaza shopping center in Palm Springs.

The cafe, billed as a for-locals, by-locals venture by owner Claire Rogers, allows patrons to grab coffee or food from local vendors like the Coachella Valley Coffee Co. and Chef Tanya's Kitchen, buy merchandise like cat-themed greeting cards handmade by local artists and, of course, play with a room full of feline friends.

The cafe’s cats are all from the Palm Springs Animal Shelter and are available for adoption directly from the business. Rogers said a central part of the cafe’s mission is to help socialize the animals and expose them to potential owners in a more natural and low-stress environment than a shelter.

“Then, as more customers come, then they get comfortable,” Rogers said, noting that this both improved the cats’ well-being and made them more likely to get adopted.

“There's (also) a lot of people who come here who can't adopt because of where they live,” she added. “There's a lot of seniors that live in Palm Springs and they live in communities where they can't have cats, but now they can come here and have a bit of fur therapy.”

The shop is divided into the main cafe area where customers can order food and drinks and the “cat lounge” where the animals climb on cat trees, sleep on cat bed or, perhaps, sit on your lap. The division is required by California state law, although Rogers said customers are free to bring food or drinks into the cat lounge after purchase — provided they refrain from feeding the cats. The lounge is encircled by windows in case anyone simply wishes to observe the cats from the exterior cafe while sipping coffee or eating.

The cafe charges $22 per hour to enter the cat lounge, a fee that comes with a 16-ounce beverage of your choice. Rogers said this fee helps cover the overhead costs of caring for the cats and running the cafe more broadly. The adoption fees — ranging between roughly $50 and $100 at rates tracking those at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter — will all be given back to the animal shelter.

“I don’t want to profit off of that,” Rogers said of the adoption fees.

She said the cafe adopted its first cat within hours of opening its doors for its “soft opening” Saturday.

“Phantom was 2 years old, (a) big black fluffy cat (that) didn't weigh very much but just a beautiful, gorgeous cat,” Rogers said of the cafe’s first adoptee. “(He) was shy, a bit nervous and uncomfortable, but if you gave a little bit of love and attention he was a real lover.”

She said his adopter was somebody who had recently moved to Palm Springs.

“Actually (the new owner) texted me last night to say that Phantom was shy at first and hid under the bed, but last night came out at 3:30 in the morning and was snuggling on the bed,” Rogers said. “So that's a huge success story.”

The cafe will host 12 cats at a time, according to Rogers, and each will remain there until they are adopted.

Normally keeping animals overnight in the cafe would violate Palm Springs zoning laws — an early obstacle faced by the cat cafe concept — but Rogers said she was able to convince the Palm Springs Planning Commission to issue her an exception to the rule since the cafe would be a “huge benefit to the community.”

Rogers said she aims to adopt out 1,000 cats in the cafe’s first year, a goal she acknowledged was “very ambitious.”

In addition to the cat adoption mission, Rogers said she hoped that the cafe could help promote other local businesses and “create a sense of community” for local visitors. She said she had already seen signs of this with previously unacquainted locals meeting and getting to know each other at the space.

“Our business model is everybody that we're dealing with, they're all locals,” Rogers said of the shop’s vendors and partners.

That includes the Coachella Valley Coffee Co., which provides six custom coffee and tea blends for the shop such as “The Simba Blend” and “Mrs. Frisky’s Earl Grey,” Townie Bagels (unsurprisingly, for bagels) and Chef Tanya's Kitchen for vegan sandwiches and wraps. Rogers said all of the art hanging in the cafe will also be made by local artists and that the shop would also sell cat-themed merchandise, like handmade greeting cards, from local artists.

Although the cafe’s “soft opening” was Saturday, Rogers said Thursday will be its first day of normal operations. She said the opening hours hadn’t been set yet and are pending a review of actual customer demand in the coming days, but that anywhere between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday through Monday would be safe to drop by the store. The cafe will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until Rogers can hire more staff next year.

She recommended that people traveling from a significant distance book in advance through the cafe’s website at friskybusinesscatcafe.com to avoid a potential wait, since only 16 people at a time are allowed in the cat lounge.

The cafe owner noted that she and her partner, neither of whom have family in the area, will be hosting a Christmas Day event at Frisky Business for seniors and others who don’t have people to socialize with on the holiday. The cafe will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day and, according to Rogers, will waive all fees for the day, including for some food and drink items.

“Christmas can be lonely for people,” Rogers said. “And as I say, there's a lot of seniors in town that maybe their partner passed away or they're on their own or so forth. So, hey, come and have a coffee and a pastry with us.”

If you go

What: Frisky Business

When: Hours are currently in flux, but generally, the cafe is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Monday

Where: 4781 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite F, Palm Springs

More info: To make a reservation, visit friskybusinesscatcafe.com

James B. Cutchin covers business in the Coachella Valley. Reach him at james.cutchin@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Frisky Business ‘cat cafe’ opens in Palm Springs