Gibson’s Cat Café is finally open downtown, and it is filled with furry friends waiting to be adopted.
The cafe opened at 808 Court St. Saturday, Sept. 24, to a long line of visitors eager to grab refreshments and spend time with the cats.
Drew and Shelby Blacksmith, ages 25 and 26 respectively, cut a red ribbon on the shop’s door at 8 a.m. to celebrate its grand opening.
“I just wanted to say thank you all so much for supporting this vision. I’m not going to cry,” Shelby said. “I’m gonna cry.”
“Thank you so much. We first started this whole journey back in late April, early May, and I can’t believe we’re cutting the ribbon now.”
“If we run out of cats today, then we’ve done a good job,” she said, before turning to cut the ribbon with her husband, Drew, who asked the crowd to count down from 10.
At the coffee bar, owner Shelby Blacksmith sells a cupcake decorated to look like a cat to a UCA student.
At one, they cut the ribbon, and the crowd cheered before forming a line to buy either a kitty lounge pass, a “Cattuccino,” a “Meowcchiato,” a “Pawtte” or an “Americato.” The cafe also sells drip coffee, soda and tea.
Allergic or easily distracted patrons can watch the cats play and sleep from a distance through the windows between the cat lounge and cafe.
Lounge passes cost $6 for 15 minutes, $8 for 30 minutes, $10 for 60 minutes and $30 for an all-day pass. All lounge passes come with a free cup of drip coffee.
Junior biology major Mattie Neighbors pets a cat while junior music education major Lora Butcher looks over her shoulder.
A queue formed for people with lounge passes to spend time with the cats.
Within the lounge, excited kittens played with patrons and each other. The cat cafe had baskets of toys scattered around, though some playful cats dragged toys to customers themselves.
Despite the influx of people, some sleepy cats didn’t bother to move, letting the affection come to them.
“This one’s licking me,” senior music education major Alex Trawick said to her friends while she petted a sleepy cat on a pillow.
The group of UCA students said they’ve known about Gibson’s Cat Café opening “for a long time” through following the owners on Instagram.
Senior music education major Riley Parker said she could see herself using the cafe to get homework done in the future.
“I would pay $6 to come in here for 15 minutes, then maybe go and do some homework, and then re-up when I need,” senior music education major Riley Parker said.
Music education seniors Riley Parker and Alex Trawick hold cats in the lounge. Maumelle Animal Shelter partners with Gibson’s to supply its lounge with adoptable cats.
“It’d be a good stress reliever in between homework,” Trawick said.
Gibson’s Cat Café posted on its Facebook page: “We are so floored that y’all lined it out of the DOOR for our ribbon cutting and grand opening!”
Shelby said the grand opening was “a madhouse in the best way.”
The cats are from Maumelle Animal Shelter. Though no adoptions took place the day of the grand opening, the next day it was open, Tuesday, Sept. 27, three cats were adopted.
The name of the cafe comes from the Blacksmiths’ own Maine Coon.
Because Shelby and her husband have four cats of their own, she said she was already knowledgeable about cat care, but she’s also learned more.
“I have had to do eye drops here and there, and so learning how to do that is pretty cool,” she said.
Shelby said the building is about 2,000 square feet, including the cafe and lounge, and the lounge’s capacity is 20 cats.
The funds to build the cafe came from multiple crowdfunding sources, including Indiegogo, which they opened a donation page for in June. It raised $4,274 before it closed.
“We also got funded through Giveahand, which is another crowdfunding thing, and Kiva is also crowdfunding loans. We’re actually paying that back,” she said.
She said the location is perfect for both the customers and the cats.
“It just works out best. Our coffee supplier is Zeteo, and the Neighborhood Pet Shoppe is right there, and our vet, Chestnut Animal Clinic, is right here,” she said.
The cat cafe accepts donations. Some packages of cat litter were already in the donation pile on the morning of the grand opening.
Shelby said she “could write a book” about what she’s learned about business.
“I’ve learned how to balance finances and all of that. It’s been pretty cool,” she said.
Gibson’s Cat Café is open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.