'I believe in this business': Owner overcomes challenges to open Peoria's first cat cafe

For as long as she can remember, Holly Walker has been a cat person. She recalls caring for the many strays who hung around her family’s home as a child. Then, a few years back, Walker visited a cat café during a work trip to Minneapolis.

“I really liked it,” Walker said. “I thought it was really cool and so, I thought, ‘Well my kids like cats, too. When I get back home, we'll go to a cat café. It'd be something fun to do,’ and then I started realizing there was nothing like that anywhere around here.”

Last year, Walker announced plans to open River Kitty Café. The business – situated at 3226 N. University St. in Peoria – plans to open its doors to the community on March 9.

The journey to opening has been long and challenging at times. Despite this, Walker is eager to share the experience with Peoria and is excited to help the café’s feline friends find families of their own.

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Wrestling with ‘regulations and red tape’

River Kitty Café marks Walker’s first experience opening and operating a business in Peoria. She works as a local math teacher during the day.

Early on, Walker said she wondered if opening a cat café was even possible in Peoria. Maybe, she thought, there was a reason such a business did not exist. She contacted the Peoria City/County Health Department to discuss the health codes she would need to follow – adding that the staff was “amazingly helpful” throughout the process.

Walker also connected with the Small Business Development Center at Bradley University for guidance on starting a business and visited One Stop Shop meetings offered by the city of Peoria.

“My desire is to work with the city to get this place open,” she said.

Doing so, however, was not always easy – especially as a new business owner. She said the “biggest hurdle” ahead of opening was navigating “all the regulations and red tape.”

Walker asked if someone from the city could visit the building to discuss renovations and regulations with her. The health department had sent a staff member out after she made a similar request.

According to Walker, however, the city of Peoria told her: “That is not a service we provide.”

The One Stop Shop brings together staff members from the fire department, community development, public works and other departments and agencies for guidance and feedback on such projects. While Walker attended these meetings, she said figuring out all the right questions to ask was a challenge.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” she said.

Walker said she understood some of the requirements – such as having work completed by licensed individuals. Navigating all the codes and deciphering what applied to her proved to be difficult, though.

For example, Walker said she did not realize that she could not use extension cords or that the exit signs needed to be lit. So, she needed to make various adjustments ahead of opening.

Aside from navigating regulations for the first time, Walker said the permitting process took significantly longer than expected. She thought the review process would take around two weeks.

In the end, though, she said it took 16 weeks to receive the permits she needed.

“This is my livelihood,” Walker said. “So, if I am paying rent and utilities on a building and leasing equipment and things like that, but I don't have customers in here. It's coming from my pay, you know, it's coming from my day job.”

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‘The goal is to find these cats homes’

Despite the various challenges, Walker remained committed to opening River Kitty Café.

“I believe in this business. I want this to open. I want it to be successful,” Walker said. “And the whole goal is not for me to get rich. The goal is to find these cats homes.”

River Kitty Café hosts adoptable cats from Peoria County Animal Protection Services. Walker said the cat lounge can accommodate up to 10 cats at a time but added that she works with PCAPS to ensure each of the cats are comfortable in the space.

Inside the business, the cat lounge is separated from the café area.

Customers can reserve hourlong visits for the cat lounge – which can host up to 10 people at a time. Reservations are listed for $12 on the business’s website, and Walker said guests who enter the lounge must be at least 7 years old. She said visitors will be able to bring their drinks into the lounge.

A viewing window in the café will also allow customers to watch the cats without entering the lounge.

In the café, Walker said the business will serve coffee products from Kitty Town Coffee – which will donate a portion of its proceeds back to PCAPS.

“Not only is coming here and spending time in the cat lounge helpful for PCAPS, but also purchasing the coffee is too,” she said.

‘People have been waiting for this’

Already, Walker said people have begun to express interest in adopting cats housed at River Kitty Café.

Since announcing plans to bring a cat café to the area, she said “the response was overwhelming.”

“I mean, people have been waiting for this,” she said. “People love animals. They love these animals. They believe in the mission of PCAPS the same way I do, and so it's just been really nice to see.”

A Facebook post that announced the opening received over 330 reactions and more than 100 shares. A GoFundMe for the business has raised over $2,700 so far, and as of March 6, multiple time slots for the cat lounge were fully booked.

And despite the difficulties ahead of opening, Walker said she remains excited to bring the concept to Peoria, as well.

“It didn't really feel complete until there were cats here,” she said. “(PCAPS) brought me three cats at first, and actually seeing the cats in the space, and knowing the amount of work that I put into making this inviting for them, and seeing how they are using the scratching posts. They're playing. The litter boxes are being utilized … just seeing a lot of my hard work actually be beneficial for the animals has been nice. So, lets me know that I'm on the right track.”

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria's first cat cafe ready to open for business