Walking into Crumbs and Whiskers, the smell of light green tea permeates the air, modern pop music plays blares in the background, and cats, around 20 of them, have free reign throughout the café. With three levels, this café provides ample space for the cats to play.
The second and third floors are open to guests and cats alike, and throughout the café cat toys are scattered across the floor. At any given time, cats can be seen chasing toy mice, batting at a feather with a bell jingling, or pacing near the front desk longing for someone to accidentally drop a cat-treat (which are available for purchase).
At night, when the humans go home the cats remain at the café and continue to run the show. Veronica Herr, the Ambassador of Human Feline Relations or, in laymen’s terms, the head of creative development and customer relations laughed while talking about her experiences opening the café after the cats have the night to themselves.
“We like to joke that in the morning it looks like a frat party just happened here. There are cats in the trashcan, they mess everything up, their food’s all over the place, there’s water spilled, toys everywhere, vomit and hair balls all over the place-- it’s so funny,” Herr said.
Crumbs and Whiskers is the first cat café in Washington, D.C. Located in Georgetown, the café is nestled on a street surrounded by quaint shops, red brick roads, and cherry blossom trees. Sitting in the window there is typically a sleeping cat that stops passers-by in their tracks. Crumbs and Whiskers opened June 20, 2015 and in those 10 months the company, composed of two owners and nine employees, have been responsible for placing 82 cats in forever homes. Their mission is founded on the idea no cat should live in a shelter. The business model embodies that by allowing cats to live in their facility, and interact with customers in the hopes of eventually being taken to a forever home.
Visiting Crumbs and Whiskers requires a reservation, because only 20 people are allowed in the café at a time, for the safety and comfort of the cats. For a 75-minute visit, the reservation fee is $15; drinks and food are not included.
The café itself is decorated with cat related signs, intricate fixtures, fluffy chairs, and poufy cushions, enticing guests to use them as props for that perfect “Insta pic." Herr explained the seeming endless amount of conversation pieces lining the walls.
“We’re very brand conscious we want to spread our message through social media, and branding and marketing is a huge way to do that,” Herr said.
For Herr, and the entire team at Crumbs and Whiskers they know the demographic they are targeting is predominately Millennials, and as a result they take into account that when guests come to visit they aren’t just there for the tasty treats and cats, they’re visiting to show their friends, but Crumbs and Whiskers is no ordinary café.
Crumbs and Whiskers was founded after the creator was inspired by a cat café in Thailand, but Crumbs and Whiskers is vastly different than the typical cat café in Asia.
Jen Guo, the manager at Crumbs and Whiskers, talked about the primary differences.
“In Thailand the cats actually live there so they’re not adoptable, that is their home, but for these cats, Crumbs and Whiskers is a temporary home for them until they find a forever home,” Guo said.
For the cats at Crumbs and Whiskers, the difference is monumental, Herr said.
“I was told that the cats [in other cat cafes] only come up to you if you have treats and when you don’t have treats they’re just not as friendly, but our cats- they’re so friendly, they come up, and they like spending time with people because they come from a shelter and they want human affection,” Herr said.
The café is doing something different, but it comes with help. Crumbs and Whiskers is not in itself a shelter. They have a very close relationship with the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation. This shelter is the group providing the “whiskers” to Crumbs and Whiskers. This shelter is responsible for providing the café with their foster cats and veterinary check-ups to make sure all their cats are happy and healthy.
Additionally, Crumbs and Whiskers cannot make food or drinks on the premise due to the complications that cats living in the café causes. As a result, Crumbs and Whiskers had to become creative with how they provide refreshments to their guests.
“We can’t make any food here and we still want to provide food and drinks to our customers. That was probably the biggest challenge, and then finding a partner that was okay with us sending them orders hour by hour,” Guo said.
Crumbs and Whiskers has since developed a close relationship with Olivia Macaron, and through them has been able to solve this issue and provide their customers with an array of “crumbs” for guest to enjoy.
Olivia Macaron provides nine different types of macaroon cookies in addition to seasonal flavors these delicate treats cost $3.50 or three for $10. In addition Crumbs and Whiskers is able to offer guest typical café beverages through Olivia Macaron, the beverages offered are coffee, green and black tea, “cat-uccino” (cappuccino), lattes, chai lattes and hot chocolate. Each of these cost from $3.99 to $5.15.
Those who work at Crumbs and Whiskers are very passionate about what they do, and they say the rewards outweigh the complexities of the health restrictions. Guo and Herr both have a love for animals and love seeing these cats find a forever home.
“It’s awesome because people come in just wanting to check us out, not looking for a cat or anything. Then they fall in love with a cat,” Herr said.
With business going smoothly city locals seem to enjoy the new addition to the neighborhood. Sophia Lavner lives down the street and while she strokes a cuddly calico cat she explains how Crumbs and Whiskers sparked her interest through their unique business model.
“I’d never heard of anything like it and I love cats,” Lavner said.
Since her first visit she’s continued to come back and uses the facility as a trendy place to relax with some furry friends.
Crumbs and Whiskers is taking Georgetown by storm, but for Herr and all the other people involved with Crumbs and Whiskers the company’s success is only part of equation. Crumbs and Whiskers was after all started for the cats, and will continue to work for them. Herr beams as cats purr on her lap. She explains why she’s so excited to see them live happily at Crumbs and Whiskers.
“They have all this space, so their personalities get to flourish. So they’re more open to being adopted because you get to see their personalities more, versus when they’re in a little cage,” Herr said.
Crumbs and Whiskers continues to search for new homes for these friendly fur balls, but with adoptions happening constantly anyone searching for a new cat should hurry before they are whiskered away.
