Pittsburgh’s second cat cafe aiming for spring opening

Plans are moving ahead to open The Black Cat Market in Pittsburgh “staffed” by adoptable shelter cats. It’s just taking longer than two young entrepreneurs anticipated.

A site has been nailed down at 5171 Butler St. in Lawrenceville. A pop-up preview held there on Feb. 23 was a great success, said Olivia Ciotoli, 26, of Squirrel Hill, an owner-operator with Indigo Baloch, 23, of Munhall.

But that was just a temporary opening for several hours.

“We’re telling people we’re aiming for a spring opening” with full-time established operating hours, Ms. Ciotoli said.

Other target-opening dates have come and gone since June 2016, when cat lovers donated $20,000 in start-up funds on the Kickstarter crowdfunding site.

Finding an affordable storefront was the first hurdle. Now the partners are waiting for various inspections and approvals.

The Black Cat Market preview “was pretty much packed” with more than 100 people, Ms. Ciotoli said. It even had a tabby named Henry, on loan from Humane Animal Rescue.

“Henry was very well-

received. He was friendly, playful and cute,” she said. “There were supposed to be three cats from the shelter, but two of them were adopted right before the preview started.”

Cats from that organization, which has shelters in Homewood and the North Side, will be regulars at the cafe when it opens. They will be available for adoption.

Ms. Ciotoli and Ms. Baloch post progress reports for Kickstarter donors and interested people on the website www.blackcatmarket.com and on the cafe’s Facebook page.

Travel mugs, T-shirts and pins can be purchased there. Two years ago, the tees advertised “Pittsburgh’s First Cat Cafe.”

When the Colony Cafe opened in February 2017 in the Strip District, it became the city’s first cat cafe, with felines from the Animal Friends shelter in Ohio Township. More than 100 cats have been adopted after being showcased at the Colony Cafe.

The Colony Cafe sells fine wines and upmarket meals. The Black Cat Market has no plans to sell wine or alcohol — just coffee and snacks for people and treats and toys for cats.

The new shirts from Black Cat Market now say, “Coffee. Cats. Community.”