A combination cat cafe and book resale store – to be called Books & Meows – probably will not open until April.
Nicole Puryear, owner and founder of Books & Meows, had hopes of opening the nonprofit venture that will sell used books and be a place to adopt cats that need a home in late January. However, she was hit by several setbacks. First, wintry weather in January delayed the delivery of some supplies for the store. Then, Ms. Puryear was told that the Iowa Department of Agriculture will require the carpeted floors be replaced by tile flooring in the Books & Meows location at 3719 Bridge Ave., Suite 2, Davenport.
That flooring job was expected to cost more than $8,000. However, flooring installer specialist Cody Yote volunteered his time and skills to install the needed flooring. That brought the cost down. A Go Fund Me campaign was launched to raise $2,100 for the project. That campaign raised a little more than $2,300.
“We are working on getting the flooring installed and then have to wait on licenses; so looking at about two months,” Ms. Puryear said in an email message to the QCBJ on Monday, Feb. 12.
In early January, Ms. Puryear told the QCBJ she was busy with the many big and small jobs needed to get Books & Meows open. Some of the features of the new business are expect to include:
- Once open, the place will have 10 to 15 cats roaming around the offices. Ms. Puryear is working with local shelters to bring in cats. She is still working to partner with an area shelter. The cats will be adopted through the shelter, but once adopted they can be taken home from Books & Meows. “If we can take more cats in later, we will,” she added.
- Books & Meows is a nonprofit dedicated to helping cats find homes and promoting literacy. In addition to selling used books, there is a small lending library set up in the parking lot on site.
- Visitors will make a $5 donation to enter Books & Meows. The donations will help the organization care for the cats.
- In addition to books and cats, the place will include work/study spaces, a casual sitting area and a children’s room with games. There will also be free WiFi.
To make donations, email Ms. Puryear at [email protected].
