FRISKY BUSINESS PALM SPRINGS CAT CAFE IN THE PRESS
We are pleased to announce that Frisky Business Palm Springs Cat Cafe has been gaining media coverage and attention!
Let's go Frisky Business!
Let's go Frisky Business!
In a town that has seemingly gone to the dogs, one small business owner hopes to find a few customers who share a fondness for felines.
Claire Rogers is working to open “Frisky Business,” a cat cafe, by the time the Palm Springs International Film Festival kicks off in early January. The concept is simple: Cats roam freely through one room while food and beverages are served in another. For a fee, customers are welcome to bring their purchases into the room with the cats and mingle — giving their new furry friends some attention and (hopefully) getting some back.
The beauty of the business is that it does more than help form bonds between humans and felines over a cup of coffee and baked goods. Once up and running, it will help solve an issue in the city that is often overlooked — finding homes for homeless cats.
Unlike many businesses in the city that welcome animals and their pet parents, the only cats allowed at the cafe will be residents. Rogers plans to have a mix of rescues and residents — four who live at the cafe full-time, adopted from the older cat population at local shelters, and eight rotating in and out from those shelters as they are adopted.
How big is the need? Keith Zabel, vice president of the Palm Springs Animal Shelter(PSAS) Board of Directors, said there are more than 5,000 “community cats” — those without homes — in the city and up to 35,000 throughout the Coachella Valley.
“I think a large percentage of our residents don’t understand there is a massive community cat population in the desert,” Zabel said, explaining that many of them have gone through the shelter’s Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. From 2016 to 2019, the program, made possible through a grant from Best Friends Animal Society, helped both PSAS and Coachella Valley Animal Campus spay and neuter more than 11,500 cats.
The concept of cat cafes dates back to the late 1990s, when what many consider the first opened in Taiwan. The idea spread to Japan, Europe, and North America, where Cat Town opened in Oakland in 2014. Until Frisky Business opens in Palm Springs, the nearest will be located in Los Angeles.
Rogers, a native of England, relocated to Palm Springs from Vancouver, British Columbia, after living in London for 21 years. Her first experience with the cat cafe concept was while traveling through South Carolina. She spent an afternoon speaking with the cafe’s owner and was stunned at what she had learned.
“I was talking with her and about how to sustain an income,” Rogers explained. “But what impressed me the most was that she had 2,000 cats adopted out.”
Seeing similar success is a lofty goal, but Rogers believes it’s possible, especially if the business takes off in Palm Springs.
“My intention is to get this one off the ground, and then I’ll open up a second one in the Valley,” Rogers said. In preparation, she has solicited the services of her partner, Sonny Von Cleveland, to serve as general manager. Von Cleveland also recently attended barista school.
“The citizens of Palm Springs have been so welcoming and so friendly,” Rogers said. “I love the sense of community, and I want to be a part of the community, and I want to help the community.
“It’s not just about me and making an income. It’s about getting cats adopted out. There are also a lot of seniors who love cats but can’t have them anymore. I want to create a place for people to experience cats.”
For both Rogers and Von Cleveland, the cafe will not just be an opportunity to give back to the community but a chance to continue their journeys along a path of emotional healing. Von Cleveland frequently speaks about surviving childhood trauma and prison. Rogers became a mental health awareness advocate and host of the Boot Camp for the Mind & Soul podcast after 20 years of “soul-destroying” corporate life.
“I left corporate life feeling like I hadn’t done any good helping the world,” Rogers said. “I’m now in the position to create a business that helps felines and people.”
Exactly where that business will open is a bit of a mystery right now. Rogers is still scouting locations and will need a variance from the city before being able to open. Live animals are not allowed to live in downtown businesses, where she hopes to be located. City staff and elected and appointed officials have been receptive to date, including Palm Springs Planning Commission members, who she spoke to earlier this month about the variance.
“There’s a lot of red tape in England,” she said. “I was expecting to have it here. With the zoning issue, I thought, “Oh god, this is going to shut down my entire operation before I get started. I wrote to [Mayor Christy Holstege] and thought I’d never hear back. I got her out of office message, but then she messaged me back within 15 minutes.”
Claire Rogers is working to open “Frisky Business,” a cat cafe, by the time the Palm Springs International Film Festival kicks off in early January. The concept is simple: Cats roam freely through one room while food and beverages are served in another. For a fee, customers are welcome to bring their purchases into the room with the cats and mingle — giving their new furry friends some attention and (hopefully) getting some back.
The beauty of the business is that it does more than help form bonds between humans and felines over a cup of coffee and baked goods. Once up and running, it will help solve an issue in the city that is often overlooked — finding homes for homeless cats.
Unlike many businesses in the city that welcome animals and their pet parents, the only cats allowed at the cafe will be residents. Rogers plans to have a mix of rescues and residents — four who live at the cafe full-time, adopted from the older cat population at local shelters, and eight rotating in and out from those shelters as they are adopted.
How big is the need? Keith Zabel, vice president of the Palm Springs Animal Shelter(PSAS) Board of Directors, said there are more than 5,000 “community cats” — those without homes — in the city and up to 35,000 throughout the Coachella Valley.
“I think a large percentage of our residents don’t understand there is a massive community cat population in the desert,” Zabel said, explaining that many of them have gone through the shelter’s Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. From 2016 to 2019, the program, made possible through a grant from Best Friends Animal Society, helped both PSAS and Coachella Valley Animal Campus spay and neuter more than 11,500 cats.
The concept of cat cafes dates back to the late 1990s, when what many consider the first opened in Taiwan. The idea spread to Japan, Europe, and North America, where Cat Town opened in Oakland in 2014. Until Frisky Business opens in Palm Springs, the nearest will be located in Los Angeles.
Rogers, a native of England, relocated to Palm Springs from Vancouver, British Columbia, after living in London for 21 years. Her first experience with the cat cafe concept was while traveling through South Carolina. She spent an afternoon speaking with the cafe’s owner and was stunned at what she had learned.
“I was talking with her and about how to sustain an income,” Rogers explained. “But what impressed me the most was that she had 2,000 cats adopted out.”
Seeing similar success is a lofty goal, but Rogers believes it’s possible, especially if the business takes off in Palm Springs.
“My intention is to get this one off the ground, and then I’ll open up a second one in the Valley,” Rogers said. In preparation, she has solicited the services of her partner, Sonny Von Cleveland, to serve as general manager. Von Cleveland also recently attended barista school.
“The citizens of Palm Springs have been so welcoming and so friendly,” Rogers said. “I love the sense of community, and I want to be a part of the community, and I want to help the community.
“It’s not just about me and making an income. It’s about getting cats adopted out. There are also a lot of seniors who love cats but can’t have them anymore. I want to create a place for people to experience cats.”
For both Rogers and Von Cleveland, the cafe will not just be an opportunity to give back to the community but a chance to continue their journeys along a path of emotional healing. Von Cleveland frequently speaks about surviving childhood trauma and prison. Rogers became a mental health awareness advocate and host of the Boot Camp for the Mind & Soul podcast after 20 years of “soul-destroying” corporate life.
“I left corporate life feeling like I hadn’t done any good helping the world,” Rogers said. “I’m now in the position to create a business that helps felines and people.”
Exactly where that business will open is a bit of a mystery right now. Rogers is still scouting locations and will need a variance from the city before being able to open. Live animals are not allowed to live in downtown businesses, where she hopes to be located. City staff and elected and appointed officials have been receptive to date, including Palm Springs Planning Commission members, who she spoke to earlier this month about the variance.
“There’s a lot of red tape in England,” she said. “I was expecting to have it here. With the zoning issue, I thought, “Oh god, this is going to shut down my entire operation before I get started. I wrote to [Mayor Christy Holstege] and thought I’d never hear back. I got her out of office message, but then she messaged me back within 15 minutes.”
Claire Rogers has always loved cats, so when she first came across the concept of a "cat café" three years ago, it stuck in her mind. Now, after leaving her corporate life — and her marriage — behind, she's come to Palm Springs to open her own cat paradise.
But there's a little problem: zoning laws in downtown Palm Springs don't allow kenneling, or keeping animals overnight in a business. Rogers hasn't been deterred, though, and is hopeful she'll be granted an exception.
"Frisky Business," she says, will have a future in Palm Springs, even if it means cats won't live in the proposed coffee shop.
But there's a little problem: zoning laws in downtown Palm Springs don't allow kenneling, or keeping animals overnight in a business. Rogers hasn't been deterred, though, and is hopeful she'll be granted an exception.
"Frisky Business," she says, will have a future in Palm Springs, even if it means cats won't live in the proposed coffee shop.
"There are ways to get around this," Rogers said. "I will open up this cat café."
Rogers spoke at a Planning Commission meeting about her concept several weeks ago and also to Palm Springs Mayor Christy Holstege. She felt everyone was receptive to the idea. Holstege said she loves the idea of such a project.
"Cats and pets are so valued here in Palm Springs, so I think it's a really fun opportunity for the city to consider," Holstege said. She remembers enjoying her visit to a cat cafe in Tokyo during her honeymoon.
"It was really fun," she added. "One thing we need in Palm Springs is more activities for residents."
What exactly is a 'cat café?'A cat café is basically a coffee shop that doubles as a cat sanctuary and gateway for abandoned felines to find their forever homes.
There are several in Southern California, including The Cat Café in San Diego, which has worked with the San Diego Humane Society and The Rescue House to bring adoptable cats into the business. Its website claims it was the first cat café in Southern California. The Cat Café charges an admission fee that covers a food or drink item and entry into the cat area. It also hosts events such as yoga with cats and, later this month, a Comic-Con themed weekend.
Rogers plans to have a similar model and to also allow patrons to purchase items separately if they're not interested in going into the cat area or, she said, are allergic and want to watch them through a window. She even learned all she knows about coffee from the same supplier The Cat Café uses, Café Virtuoso in San Diego.
If Rogers is able to open her café, Frisky Business would be the first of its kind in the Coachella Valley.
She's already spoken with the Palm Springs Animal Shelter in hopes of working with them and, through her business' Facebook page, has received a lot of suggestions about other shelters and rescues she can partner with. Rogers needs the help — she just moved to Palm Springs this year after 20 years in London. She's familiar with the area having grown up in Vancouver, Canada, and spending weeks or months at a time in the city since she was 19.
"My soul relaxed every time I got here," Rogers said. "I was living in this high-pressure environment in a big concrete jungle then I would come here and I’d see the mountains and the blue skies and it was just like – ahh – I love it."
However, she isn't part of the community yet like she wants to be.
"I think what I was missing in London is that sense of community – it’s hard to have a sense of community in a big city," she said.
She hopes Frisky Business will become a community gathering place. One day a week, she plans to offer a student discount and another night each week when fees are waived for older adults. Rogers also envisions hosting book clubs in the cat room and special events like a "mad catter tea party."
Rogers hopes to open in early January during the Palm Springs International Film Festival so she has an excuse to host a "cat walk" outside to "play on a festival that's very important to this community."
"I don't know if that's realistic or not," Rogers admitted, but it won't keep her from trying.
Resident cats Simba, Shadow, Puma and Luna — her four cats — will be the first residents of Frisky Business. Rogers expects to have the young felines (who are all rescue kittens) lure in foot traffic that will help other cats get adopted. She also plans to bring some senior cats, or others who've been difficult to adopt out, in to live in the café full-time.
Rogers spoke at a Planning Commission meeting about her concept several weeks ago and also to Palm Springs Mayor Christy Holstege. She felt everyone was receptive to the idea. Holstege said she loves the idea of such a project.
"Cats and pets are so valued here in Palm Springs, so I think it's a really fun opportunity for the city to consider," Holstege said. She remembers enjoying her visit to a cat cafe in Tokyo during her honeymoon.
"It was really fun," she added. "One thing we need in Palm Springs is more activities for residents."
What exactly is a 'cat café?'A cat café is basically a coffee shop that doubles as a cat sanctuary and gateway for abandoned felines to find their forever homes.
There are several in Southern California, including The Cat Café in San Diego, which has worked with the San Diego Humane Society and The Rescue House to bring adoptable cats into the business. Its website claims it was the first cat café in Southern California. The Cat Café charges an admission fee that covers a food or drink item and entry into the cat area. It also hosts events such as yoga with cats and, later this month, a Comic-Con themed weekend.
Rogers plans to have a similar model and to also allow patrons to purchase items separately if they're not interested in going into the cat area or, she said, are allergic and want to watch them through a window. She even learned all she knows about coffee from the same supplier The Cat Café uses, Café Virtuoso in San Diego.
If Rogers is able to open her café, Frisky Business would be the first of its kind in the Coachella Valley.
She's already spoken with the Palm Springs Animal Shelter in hopes of working with them and, through her business' Facebook page, has received a lot of suggestions about other shelters and rescues she can partner with. Rogers needs the help — she just moved to Palm Springs this year after 20 years in London. She's familiar with the area having grown up in Vancouver, Canada, and spending weeks or months at a time in the city since she was 19.
"My soul relaxed every time I got here," Rogers said. "I was living in this high-pressure environment in a big concrete jungle then I would come here and I’d see the mountains and the blue skies and it was just like – ahh – I love it."
However, she isn't part of the community yet like she wants to be.
"I think what I was missing in London is that sense of community – it’s hard to have a sense of community in a big city," she said.
She hopes Frisky Business will become a community gathering place. One day a week, she plans to offer a student discount and another night each week when fees are waived for older adults. Rogers also envisions hosting book clubs in the cat room and special events like a "mad catter tea party."
Rogers hopes to open in early January during the Palm Springs International Film Festival so she has an excuse to host a "cat walk" outside to "play on a festival that's very important to this community."
"I don't know if that's realistic or not," Rogers admitted, but it won't keep her from trying.
Resident cats Simba, Shadow, Puma and Luna — her four cats — will be the first residents of Frisky Business. Rogers expects to have the young felines (who are all rescue kittens) lure in foot traffic that will help other cats get adopted. She also plans to bring some senior cats, or others who've been difficult to adopt out, in to live in the café full-time.
Coffee, Kitties, Cuddles, & More!
