by Caroline Vaught | Apr 27, 2018
Happy Friday Everyone!
Wow what a few weeks it has been! If I haven’t spoken with you directly during our recent Vista and Fallbrook events, let me take this opportunity to tell you we’ve been in lease negotiations for WEEKS. As you may know we started our location search in June of 2017. The last time I counted we viewed something like 24 properties over the course of a year… and we made offers on six of them!
We would find a great space then get priced out by other offers… or we’d find a great location with an excited owner then learn there was already a coffee shop with exclusivity in the complex. Or we’d find a great space with an excited owner then discover the city’s permitting requirements would take an additional 6 – 9 months and we still might be told no at the end of it – how crazy is that!?
So in February when we first toured our new home in Vista – a space perfectly sized for our concept, with supportive owners AND city officials – we knew we finally had a winner! A commercial lease agreement is no joke, and taking the time necessary to make sure all needs were accommodated was a worthy investment. We’ll be located in a shopping center at the corner of Palomar Airport Road and Business Park Drive – super convenient to Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside and Encinitas!
A good friend said to me “Don’t let this time pass you by. A year from now you’ll look back at how far you’ve progressed, don’t fly through the process without experiencing it.” It’s easy for me (and I’m guessing someone reading this will relate) to get caught in the details and rush, but when I do that I don’t fully experience the moment. I’m thankful for this reminder because experience is a huge piece of what we are creating at Cat & Craft. Rescued cats who will experience love and trust thanks to our future customers, and future customers who will experience compassion, community and connection simply by participating in this journey with us!
With love and light,
The *trying to be patient* Cat & Craft team!
by Caroline Vaught | Mar 9, 2018
Happy Friday!
I can’t believe it’s the second week of March already (time flies when you are having fun!) We’ve had a busy few weeks, and I so enjoyed meeting some of you during the recent Vista Family Fun Day.
Seeing your smiles and and feeling your excitement about what we are creating here in North County San Diego is fuel to the fire of my purpose, and each interaction further solidifies the space of compassion, community and connection we are bringing into reality.
I’ll admit it is very easy for me to focus on the physicality of our location, and the time it has taken to reach this milestone has at times been frustrating for me. Those of you who follow my posts on Instagram and Facebook know we started our location search in June of 2017 – we toured countless properties and made multiple offers during the months since and at times it would get pretty discouraging.
But at the end of February we finally found a fit, and would you believe it we are ALMOST finished with our lease negotiations!? I have a fun little unveiling in the works for you in the coming weeks (I can formally announce our location when all paperwork is signed ; ) so keep an eye on our social media for the day and time to tune in for details. I can’t wait to share our progress with you over the next few months as we begin building out the space!!
Also if we have not had the chance to meet you in person, I encourage you to come visit us at the upcoming Fallbrook Avocado Festival in April and the Vista Strawberry Festival in May! We will be joining our rescue partner LYFF Rescue with info on available cats and kittens in need of good homes, information about how you can help community cats in your area, and we will have some fun C&C swag on hand for you to purchase (a portion of all proceeds will go to our rescue partner LYFF Rescue).
As always thank you so much for your support. Its people like YOU who are making my dream a reality, and I am beyond grateful.
With love and light,
Caroline
Owner, Cat & Craft
by Caroline Vaught | Jan 5, 2018
Hi friend! I hope you are enjoying a great start to 2018 and that you are as excited as I am for the awesome happenings ahead this year! I look forward to posting regular updates for you in the coming weeks, but first let me catch you up on what’s been keeping me busy.
My husband and I had the good fortune of being able to visit a few existing cat cafes during the later part of 2017. KitTea in San Francisco, Purrington’s Cat Lounge in Portland, Crumbs & Whiskers in Los Angeles, The Cat Cafe in downtown San Diego, Denver Cat Company in Denver, and Java Cats in Atlanta! It’s great to see the unique and successful ways in which each cafe operates and learn from some of the best out there. Each establishment was beyond kind and helpful – and rightly so as we are all working towards the same great cause. Someone once asked me if I worried about there being “too many” cat cafes and my answer is always OF COURSE NOT! The more venues available to connect homeless animals and people, the more homeless animals get adopted and that’s what this is all about! I’ve attached a few photos from our travels to encourage you to visit these cat cafes next time you find yourself passing through their hometowns.
We’ve also been hard at work finding a location. As many cat cafe owners will tell you, finding a location is often one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. We formally began our property search in July of 2017 and have been actively submitting offers ever since. Some places turned out to be too small, some places too large/expensive, and others simply weren’t comfortable with the idea of having animals on premise. BUT I am absolutely confident the purrfect (I couldn’t resist) location is just around the corner. As many of you know we are primarily targeting Carlsbad California to service the North County market and the city has been super supportive of us. But we have also been searching the neighboring cities of Oceanside, Encinitas and Vista as well.
I have some exciting news to share too but I want to be mindful of your time.. so stay tuned for next weeks post. Until then have a great weekend!
Much Love,
Caroline
by Caroline Vaught | Sep 25, 2017
Hello and welcome to the family! My name is Caroline Vaught and I’m the owner of Cat & Craft. Since we just met, I’d like to take a moment to tell you a bit more about who we are and how this came about.
I’ve been a self-proclaimed “cat person” since childhood. Nothing against dogs (love them), I just always had cats growing up and naturally became a big fan of the unique personalities and eccentricities that come along when sharing your home with a feline (or two… or four). For many years I was aware the homeless pet population was a problem, but it wasn’t until I found a semi-feral momma cat and her four one-week old kittens on my back porch that I realized just how big of a problem it was. I called every rescue organization I could find hoping someone else could safely trap momma, her babies and put all up for adoption into happily ever afters. Each and every rescue informed me how few resources (i.e. none) were available, and wished me luck. I knew this furry family deserved a chance to find safe forever homes, so my husband and I vowed to make it happen. It took a lot of patience and a lot of canned kitten food, but in the weeks that followed we experienced the profound joy that comes from earning an animals’ trust, and watching others find joy upon connecting with a new best friend. That’s right – everyone found happy loving homes!
The ripple effect from doing right by this momma cat and her kittens created a positive impact more powerful than anything I’d professionally accomplished in 15 years of working for Corporate America. So I walked away from my job at a luxury automotive manufacturer to start Cat & Craft, a foster lounge and coffee shop where people can experience enriching interactions with adoptable cats and kittens in a comfortable, cozy, cage-free environment. A place where cats and people can heal each other… and become family.
On behalf of myself and the entire Cat & Craft team I want you to know that we are excited and grateful that you decided to join us on this adventure. We believe this is going to be game changer for cat adoption in North County, San Diego – we’ve watched it happen all over the country and it’s time to bring the joy here!
Stay tuned for more updates!
– Caroline
Happy Place!
