Filed under: Travel News
Cat cafe in Chongqing, China. Rex
Japan's popular cat cafe concept, where customers pay by the hour to pet cats and enjoy a cup of coffee, is coming to London.
ABC News reports that Australian entrepreneur Lauren Pears says a cat cafe is 'just like a regular cafe. It sells coffee, tea, cakes and snacks. The only difference is that it is full of cats.'
Pears is looking for a suitable site to open Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium, which she hopes to bring to Londoners by May.
According to the Daily Mail, the 30-year-old's dream was made possible when she raised £100,000 through crowd-funding website Inidegogo.
Cat cafes took off in Tokyo in the noughties and Pears says she sees it becoming a craze in London due to the congested living conditions, people's time constraints and landlords that don't take kindly to tenants with pets.
Cat cafe in Chongqing, China. Rex
The entrepreneur is looking for potential sites in Old Street and says she has already found 15 felines to start with - all of which come from the Mayhew Animal Home in Kensal Green.
'Many cats will soon be adopted and spend their lives in the lap of luxury,' she wrote on her blog.
'And many Londoners and visitors will soon be relaxing with a mug of hot beverage of choice and a bundle of purring joy.'
The cat cafe concept seems to spreading. One opened in Chongqing, China last year, as well as in Vienna, Austria. There is also one in St Petersburg.
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