This morning there was a story in the Commercial Appeal about Burke’s Books upcoming move. The bookstore will be moving to a location that will include 944 S. Cooper, the current home of House of Mews. This is definitely good news for Burke’s, which has experienced financial trouble in recent years. Having a storefront with heavy foot traffic may be just what is needed to save their business.
However, this is not such good news for House of Mews, an organization that has found homes for 7,000 homeless cats over the past 11 years. They found that their rent was being raised from $1,000 to $3,000 and they’re forced to vacate by March 1.
I remember going to visit House of Mews one Saturday when my mother was in town visiting. We walked in the front door and half a dozen cats came running up to greet us. As I reached down to pet one, another was so happy to see me that he jumped on my back and had to be lifted off. There were about 100 cats in the shop, including a pen full of cats who had lived their lives in the wild and were gradually being conditioned to human contact. Most of those kitties would likely have been put to sleep if House of Mews had not existed.
The owner of the building says he has found House of Mews “equivalent space” in a building at Central and Philadelphia. That “equivalent space” quote is the biggest load of BS I’ve heard in a long time. It may be the same square footage, but it isn’t in a high foot-traffic area. House of Mews survived all these years because people were walking by on their way to Dish, Blue Fish, Casablanca, Cafe Ole, etc. and saw the adorable kitties in the window and went in. That’s how I discovered it. Take away that foot traffic and their business – and community awareness of House of Mews – will dwindle.
So it sounds like House of Mews needs
1) People to adopt the cats, or even provide temporary housing for them during the transition;
2) Donations to help them stay afloat;
3) Retail space which is in a well-traveled commercial area.
Anyone who wants to help them can contact them through their web site.
Here’s a link to this morning’s Commercial Appeal article on Burke’s/House of Mews.