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Charm Kitty Cafe in Hampden officially opens on September 30

Posted at 11:56 AM, Sep 29, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-29 17:43:50-04

It's the day cat lovers have been waiting for.

Charm Kitty Cafe, Baltimore's first cat cafe, is opening on September 30.

Cameron Tucker came up with the idea a couple of years ago and started a Kickstarter campaign to fund his idea. He couldn't believe the reaction, or the money, that came in.

"I was surprised in the best way possible," he said. "After the first day we raised maybe $1,000, maybe $2,000. The next day I woke up, I've never had so many notifications on my phone. It was very overwhelming in the best way possible."

The cafe is located in the Whitehall Mill in Hampden off Clipper Road. Its an open space filled with cat trees, cat beds, and of course, places for humans to sit and relax too.

There will be eight cats at the cafe, which come from the Baltimore Humane Society. They are all adoptable, and when one is adopted, another cat will take its place. Christine DeCorse, the executive director of the BHS, says the cafe is a great way to get the cats out of the shelter and socializing.

"What I really love about this is the fact that because we have the cats here and not at the shelter, we are now able to pull and save more cats because we just freed up space," she said.

The coffee is from Zeke's Coffee and the cookies are from Dark Side Cookies. You make a reservation online and spend one hour sipping coffee and playing with cats. The rates vary from weekday to weekend.

Tucker says he's happy to see so many people excited about the cafe.

"I want this space to feel very calm and positive," he said. "Its very exciting for people just to meet eight different cats and hang out with them."

In the next couple of months, Charm Kitty Cafe will roll out a cat co-working space where people can do work while playing with cats.