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Carlos Wong, the intrepid creator of Catfe, LA's first Cat Cafe, has his eyes on a spacious two-story location in Little Tokyo, right next to Mr. Pizza and essentially in the middle of the action of a bustling neighborhood. Though his recent Kickstarter campaign didn't reach its ambitious $350,000 goal (and by a wide margin), Wong is gearing up for another fundraising campaign now that he has a solid location to work with (though the lease for the space hasn't been signed, he's been in talks with the landlord).
With a new marketing team and an established brand, Wong is launching merch, logos, t-shirts and more at the upcoming LA Feline Film Festival, which takes place on September 21. Riding on that Festival, Wong hopes to launch yet another Kickstarter campaign. He's also paired up with NKLA, a local animal shelter that will help supply and manage the cats for adoption. Here are some additional tidbits to know about the Catfe in the works:
1. He's trying to raise $250,000 to build out the two spaces. With two separate entrances, the Catfe will have an upstairs cafe for customers, and a downstairs area to house the cats through the night.
2. The cafe section will offer boba-style drinks for a Japanese tea-house kind of vibe. In terms of food offerings, think light pastries and snacks like macarons.
3. Customers can order their food and drinks, then carry them over to the cat area. Customers can also buy separate time with the cats if they don't want to buy any food and drinks.
4. Cats will be available for adoption right there. With over 6,000 square feet available in the two places, they're plenty of space for the cats to feel comfortable.
5. There are two other cat cafes in the works that should open before the end of the year, but Wong feels more confident in his project. First, he's opened a business before so he knows not to rush this. He feels that if other rush into it and fail, then the whole concept will lose momentum. He's not hell bent on opening the first one, but he is intent to making the best cat cafe.
· LA's First Cat Cafe Seeking $350k via Kickstarter [~ELA~]
