Purring right along

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/05/2024 (877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Osborne Village’s newest tenants have four paws and a love of scratches.

Cleocatra Café is erecting an eatery in the Village strip, less than a year after opening its first shop on Portage Avenue.

“We have to have a second location as fast as we can,” stated Harry Ho, Cleocatra Café manager.

He sat in the company’s Wolseley bistro, across from photos of cats adopted on site. He then stood and pulled back artwork below those pictures, revealing more printouts of adopted cats.

On Wednesday, Cleocatra Café housed 20 felines, who were separated from its coffee bar by a wall of glass. Customers milled about, drinking lattes or cuddling kittens, depending on which side of the wall they occupied.

More than 150 pet adoptions have occurred through Cleocatra Café — also called Quan Cop Phe — over the past 12 months.

“It seems to be a big number, but every day we have plenty of calls from people that… don’t want their cats,” Ho said. “We just cannot take them.”

Hence the need for a new space, he added. He’s hoping the Osborne Village site will open within the next two weeks, but it depends on construction.

Ho wouldn’t specify the address, calling it a surprise, but confirmed the café is in a former retail location.

The new Cleocatra will replicate the pioneering Wolseley space. However, it will be bigger — roughly 1,700 square feet, compared to the 1,200 sq. ft. off Portage Avenue, Ho said.

He’s anticipating 20 cats at a time in Osborne Village. Same menu — coffee, desserts — and possibly double the café seating, to 20 chairs.

Ho also expects to expand his staff, adding another three to four members.

“We’re having a lot of love from people,” Ho remarked, acknowledging the quick move to open a second location.

Cleocatra Café regularly hits maximum capacity on summer weekends. It started a GoFundMe drive in January to open a second locale and raised $3,213.

“I’m so excited, and I think a lot of people will be very excited, too,” said Zohreh Gervais, executive director of the Osborne Village Business Improvement Zone.

It’s a popular business and it’s filling a vacant storefront, she noted.

It’s the first in a “new wave of energy” coming to the Village, Gervais continued — a doughnut shop, ice cream parlour and new restaurant (in the former Basil’s space) are among the companies opening along Osborne Street this summer.

For Tails of Freedom Rescue Inc., a second Cleocatra Café is a chance to house more mousers.

“There’s so many animals that need homes,” said Brock Meikle, a director with the Winnipeg non-profit. “Any chance to have them in a place where they can get more visibility, it’s nothing but a benefit.”

Tails of Freedom supplies the café’s cats and handles the adoption processes. At any given time, it has another 100 to 150 felines in foster homes.

“The café has really been a blessing,” Meikle stated, noting the number of foster homes has declined after a COVID-19 pandemic-era boom.

His team tries to keep a mix of animals — different colours, different genders — in the café to promote adoption.

It’s working: Eliza McKibbon was fighting the urge to adopt (again) Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s gonna be hard to not take him home,” she cooed, petting a black cat on her lap at the café.

She’d left her three felines behind to visit with a friend, Tara Everett, in the Wolseley hub. After drinking coffee, the two entered the back half of the eatery to see the animals.

“This is a really … holistic way of meeting cats,” Everett commented as a grey cat slid between her and McKibbon on a couch.

A few steps away, Alyna and Monte Chan lured felines with treats provided at the café. Toys were nearby if needed.

“They take good care of their cats,” Alyna advocated.

The Osborne Village site will be solely for feline adoptions to start, according to Ho. However, dogs and rabbits may potentially make appearances.

Cleocatra Café joins a number of cat cafés across Winnipeg, including companies on Erin and Main streets. The business model was popularized in Asia.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com