The Purrfect Cup, a newly-opened café on Fredericton’s north side, gives students an opportunity to take a break from their studies by offering them a place to relax with coffee, confections, and of course, cats.
Korey Jennings, owner of The Purrfect Cup, wanted to create a space where people could focus less on work and more on being present and enjoying the moment.
“I just think that aspect of relaxation is important and missing in our culture, so I’m trying to promote that,” Jennings said.
Jenning hopes students will come to the café during midterm season and exam week to take a break and de-stress.
The business opened on Oct. 20. Half of the building is designed as a modern café where students can study while enjoying a cup of coffee and baked goods, all provided by local businesses.
“All the baked stuff comes from Chess Piece [Pâtisserie] downtown, and the coffee comes from Whitney Coffee Company,” said Jennings.
The other half of the building is dedicated to relaxing with cats. Decorated with a variety of cat playsets, students can sit on the couch or at the Japanese-inspired tables and interact with the felines. According to Jennings, these low tables help bring students down to the cat’s level.
Since most university students aren’t allowed to have pets in residences or apartments, Jennings wanted to provide a space where students can spend an hour playing with feline friends. Shona Newton, Jennings’ partner, said the café plans to have 10 cats at all times.
“I have always had a [soft] spot for animals,” said Jennings. “I think cats are very unique and interesting.”
While students can enter the café without any charge, there is a $5 an hour fee to enter the cat room.
“It’s just expensive to run the business,” Jenning said. “You don’t make that much money on food so we really needed some way to increase revenue. Otherwise, the business just wouldn’t work.”
An entrepreneur at heart, Jennings said he’s always wanted to start a business. The idea for The Purrfect Cup came about in April 2017 after Jennings read a Facebook article about a cat café in Alberta.
Excited about his new project, Jennings spent the next year and a half putting his idea for The Purrfect Cup in motion. Along with wanting to create a relaxing space, Jennings also wanted to create a social enterprise, which is a business that benefits the community. All the cats in the café are provided by the local SPCA and are up for adoption.
At the grand opening, the director of operations at the Fredericton SPCA, Annette James, said partnering with The Purrfect Cup is a great pairing.
“[We] have the same exact principals and we just felt it was a great match,” she said.
“When we sat and discussed it and envisioned how we could help our kitties that we have in house who would thrive better in an environment such as this, it was just the perfect match for The Purrfect Cup.”
