Tabby and Fidos Cat Cafe is moving locations after over two years in their current building.
Their current downtown Bowling Green location on Main St. was bought and the cafe has until next March to find a new location.
“The owner [of the building] went through a lot of personal stuff and was forced to sell the building,” said Patty Beam, co-owner of Tabby and Fidos. “New owners just finally bought the building, so we did have our conversations with them because we don’t own it; we rent this space. They are going to be utilizing the whole building, which means we have to move.”
Beam and the other co-owner, Morgan Meronk, have been looking at locations in Bowling Green, as students are one of their biggest customers.
“We want to be in a location that’s great for the college, obviously, so you guys can get up here and walk if you need to. So it’s been a challenge to find a place uptown,” Beam said. “We’re always looking, we don’t ever wish for a business to close, but we’re always just looking for an opportunity to find a new space uptown.”
So far, the owners have not found their ideal space. With new ownership coming into their current building, they need to move out by March of next year.
“Our lease is good until March of next year. However, the people who are moving in here, I know they’re eager, so they will let us leave early,” Beam said. “Our goal is to try to find something before the harsh winter comes, or we’ll be waiting till the very end of our lease when the weather breaks a little.”
With their current budget and lack of ideal spaces for a cat cafe uptown, Beam and Meronk have been looking around South Main for a new location. In order to make it easy for students to get to the cafe, they have been in talks with Bowling Green State University’s (BGSU) Shuttle Service.
“I talked to the shuttle service at Bowling Green and they said I can put a petition in for the shuttle so that a shuttle will go almost right by our location,” Beam said.
Due to necessary renovations in a new location and the short time frame of having to find one, Tabby and Fidos may have to close for a short period.
“We may have to close just for a short time. until we find that perfect spot, rather than just move into something and be like, a year later, ‘this is too small or cramped’ or ‘we’re not getting the traffic we used to,’” Beam said.
When looking for a new location, the owners are looking for windows and as much space for a cafe and cat room as they can find.
“As many windows and space as we can find. We’ve looked at some really narrow spots with a window up front and of course, we want our cats to still have window space, but at the same time, if it’s too narrow, that makes us have to have a long hallway for people to walk back to the cafe. So finding the right fit has been a challenge,” Beam said.
Beam said they may need to look at a smaller space. Their main concern is the cats, so they will cut into the cafe area.
“Most days, it doesn’t get overly filled in here [cafe room]. So I think we could minimize it if we need to. We’d still have our beautiful cafe, have a little bit of sitting and then as much lounge as we possibly could for the cats,” Beam said.
After being in their current location for over two years, Beam and Meronk have learned a lot and are ready for the challenge of doing it all again.
“We are a little excited to make improvements, things we’ve learned along the way that will better Tabby and Fidos and help us be more efficient behind the cafe when we’re doing things,” Beam said.
Renovations will most likely be necessary at a new location. In order to get occupancy and serve drinks, the cafe needed an Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) certified bathroom. This is something they added in their current location and will probably have to add again.
“The ADA bathroom is something we’re going to have to probably update, no matter where we go,” Beam said. “I know that was a certain amount of money, so I already know what that would be if we have to do it again. It’s great because I have all the experience to do everything again.”
After the “roller coaster” of first opening Tabby and Fidos and having to make renovations in their current building, the owners are looking for a long-term home for the cafe.
“The goal is making sure we find a place that’s going to be good for long term. We thought this one was, but then all these things happened,” Beam said. “When you don’t own the place, you go with what the landlord says and does and then a new owner comes in with their own plan. So it’s unfortunate, but I understand it’s just the process. So we want to make sure that we find a place that’s perfect.”
In order to find this “perfect” place and renovate it to the owners’ standards, funds may become an issue.
“The funds are going to be something that hopefully the landlord will work with us to help with, especially if it’s an improvement to their building,” Beam said. “If not, we thought about doing a fundraiser or even offering some visits by donation only, just to see if people would help that way to come in and visit. So we were trying to be creative to see how we could get the funds, because we will need them to move.”
While on the hunt for their new building, the owners are thinking about the city and their customers who have grown to love Tabby and Fidos. In their new building, they want to make sure their customers still “love” the local cat cafe.
“The biggest goal is to just make sure that it’s still what everybody expects and has come to love,” Beam said. “And continue doing it here because this is a great town and to give it up would be sad. So we’re just hopeful that we find a place that’s going to be suitable.”
For more information on the big move, stay updated on Tabby and Fidos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tabby_fidos/
To donate and book a time: https://tabbyandfidos.com/home
