The Scratching Post – a cat cafe – began its construction last week. Though the date has not been set for its opening, the cafe is expected to open sometime in the fall of 2024.
The cafe will be divided into two parts: the board game cafe and the cat lounge. Rebecca Minick, the owner of Scratching Post, says the board game section will be in the front half, with a counter on one side and a big wall of board games on the other.
The cafe will offer light snacks and drinks and has plans to serve alcohol as well. Minick goes on to explain that “customers can buy a game pass for access to the game library and order snacks and drinks at the counter.” The back half of the cafe is where the cat lounge will be, where over 30 cats will be fostered.
Minick mentions that the two parts of the cafe will be separated by large windows and a double-door vestibule so that the board game room should be ok for those who are allergic to cats. “You can sit in the cafe and see inside the lounge, but those with allergies shouldn’t be affected,” she says.
The cat lounge will be set up much like a living room, with bookshelves, couches, armchairs and cat furniture. Customers can make a reservation for the cat lounge, where they can play with the cats. Customers can even adopt any of the cats that they meet. “The lounge helps to get the cats in front of more potential adopters and can also help to socialize the cats,” says Minick.
Minick mentions how the opening process of the cafe has taken much longer than expected but that she sees movement forward in the right direction. Saying, “My hope is that the cafe will be a fun, comfortable and inclusive gathering place that will get some of these rescue cats out of cages and in front of new people to get adopted. It is definitely a different spin on a cat cafe in general and certainly a new type of business to the CU area, so I hope everyone embraces our weird nerdiness and comes out to play some board games and pet some cats.”
For updates on an opening date, stay in touch with their social media accounts and website, which you can find here.
