SUMMARY

Denver Cat Company is located close to downtown on Tennyson Street. The area is very walkable with a nice neighborhood feel and plenty of small businesses, including local eateries, bars, boutiques, galleries, and parks. Denver Cat Company has an adorable black and red exterior and the logo features a cat and reads “Denver Cat Company … Because Cats.” There is a large front window that faces the street where passersby can peer in to see cats lounging on beds, trees, and nesting areas. Inside the cafe there are plenty of places to lounge with cats and enjoy a specialty drink and pastry.

I was excited to interview Lelia, as her cat café was one of the first to open in the United States and her café and cat rescue are well-regarded and were highly recommended by other cat café owners. In our conversation, it was easy to see why. Leila’s story, like all cat café owners, was unique and personal. Inspired by the Purina One pop-up cat café in New York City in 2014, which she described as “heaven” and “the thing to do and the place to be,” Leila quit a career in law to open a cat café. Without previous retail and rescue experience, but with an abundance of enthusiasm and confidence, Leila went head-first into the process of opening a cat café. Within two months of securing a lease on Tennyson Street, Denver Cat Company opened for customers.

Leila described some of the challenges of opening a cat café, especially early on, as educating the public on cats and the cat café model. There was initially some resistance from customers to pay for the experience of hanging out with adoptable cats. Another challenge was partnering with local rescue organizations and trying to align the supply of rescue cats with the needs of a cat cafe. Early challenges maintaining a supply of adoptable cats with rescue partners, which only increased during the pandemic, led Leila to start Denver Cat Rescue, a non-profit, largely foster-based organization. While running both a cat café and cat rescue may not be feasible for newly opened cat cafes, in Leila’s words, “if you are able to do it, it’s better.” This dual cat cafe and cat rescue model allows Leila to work directly with partners from rural and county shelters and with owner surrenders. She also has a consistent supply of adoptable cats to meet and pet at Denver Cat Company.