Catmosphere Laguna is closing its cafe, kittens and cats need homes - OCRegister

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Tina and John Schauer decided it was time to get another cat.

The Chino couple headed to Laguna Beach on Friday, Nov. 27, braving traffic and crowds out for Black Friday.

But, after hunting for and snagging a parking spot, they found a place to relax and get some Zen vibes.

• Julia Siegel cuddles with a cat at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Gail Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Stephanie Fisher and her children, Ethan, 9, and Claire, 7, play with cats at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Gail Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Gail Landau shows off one of her kittens at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• A cat hides under a couch at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Gail Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Tigra, a Bengal tabby mix, relaxes at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Gail Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats in since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Julia Siegel, and her fiancé, Kyle Barbee, try to coax Tigra, a Bengal tabby mix, out of a hiding place at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Gail Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats in since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Tigra, a Bengal tabby mix, relaxes at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Gail Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats in since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Merchandise at Gail Landau’s Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Tigra, a Bengal tabby mix, greets visitors at Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Gail Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats in since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Gail Landau’s Catmoshere Laguna in Laguna Beach, CA, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats since opening Catmosphere Laguna. But, now COVID-19 impacts is shutting her down. She is hoping to find another business to partner within 2021. For now, she has dozens of kittens and cats that need homes. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• A Bengal-mx kitten looks out at possible adopters at Catmoshere Laguna. (Photo by Erika Ritchie, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Addison Burk, 10, left and Avery Burk, 11, of Newport Beach cuddle with a Bengal-mix they named Sage at Catmosphere Laguna. (Photo by Erika Ritchie, Orange County Register/SCNG)

“There’s just something that happens,” John Schauer said as he snuggled the multi-colored tabby between the couple on a couch. “Just a few moments of petting them, you just feel something.”

The Schauers were among dozens of folks who stopped in Friday at Catmosphere Laguna, Orange County’s first cat cafe that this weekend is shutting its doors after opening in the summer of 2018.

The cat cafe concept, which started in Taiwan in 1998 and has since gone global, banks on customers getting smitten by kittens.

Catmosphere owner Gail Landau worked with local rescue groups, including The Ark of San Juan Animal Rescue and the Laguna Beach Animal Shelter, bringing their adoptable cats to the cafe’s playroom daily to help find them homes. People could get to know the cats before adopting them and the cats would get more socialized from all the visitors. Adoptions cost $300 and include full medical records.

Pre-coronavirus pandemic, Landau would typically allow as many as 10 prospective adopters in the cat lounge at a time. She’d also be able to serve at least 14 people in the adjoining cafe, who could watch the cats play through a glass pane.

But since the shutdown in March, things have been difficult and Landau has had to lay off her staff while the cafe was shuttered. When May rolled around and the cafe could be open for takeout, she still couldn’t bring in enough to offset the costs.

Capacity restrictions with the pandemic also meant severely limiting how many potential adopters could visit the cats at any one time.

So, she has decided to close the cafe and visiting room. She will continue her mission through her Catmosphere Laguna Foundation to find forever homes for kittens and cats, but it won’t be from the Forest Avenue storefront.

Since she opened, Landau has adopted out nearly 200 cats. On Small Business Saturday,  she hopes to add to that number before finally closing down. Those not adopted will return to their rescues to still find forever homes. She is also offering deals on cat-inspired clothing, souvenirs, artwork, books and jewelry.

By Friday evening, more than 40 people had come by.

Among those were Addison and Avery Burk, who couldn’t stop playing with a Bengal-mix kitten. The two Newport Beach sisters were with their mom, Tara, while dad – who has bad cat allergies – waited outside. The trio gave a donation and bought a small cat statue.

Addison, 10, has been obsessed with cats since she was a baby, Tara Burk said. Everything in her daughter’s room is cat-oriented. But she has to make due with a remote-controlled version for a pet.

“We would take this cat in a heartbeat,” Tara Burk said. “But, I’m allergic and my husband is really allergic.”

Both daughters chimed in – almost at once – that their parents could get allergy shots.

“Please, do it for us,” said Avery, 11. “I’ve already named her Sage because her eyes are the color of sage leaves.”

For 2021, Landau said she hopes to find another location and possibly a cafe or retail shop to partner with.

“That’s the new model all over the U.S.,” she said. “You mind the cats while they mind the cafe or retail shop. They would have to love cats and they’d need to have the same ethos. If I could get the cats adopted, I could go anywhere in Orange County.”

That street-front visibility has been so key to the cause, she said.

“The impact is incalculable,” Landau said. “It’s brought in people with allergies who may not get a cat, but tell other people who tell other people. There are people who say they are ‘dog people.’ but the come in and its quiet and Zen-like without the noise of cages. They find a feline and it really does fit into their lifestyle.”

If you go: Catmosphere Laguna, 381 Forest Ave. Hours Saturday are noon to 6 p.m.

To adopt cats or kittens after Saturday, call 949-619-MEOW (6369) or catmospherelaguna.com.

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