migzors OP t1_ja9cjnc wrote on February 27, 2023 at 8:19 PM

Reply to comment by timesuck in Residential home with storefronts question for locals by migzors

Oh! I didn't know about the bunny cafe, that's great to know. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Cafe of course, as long as I can help some rabbits in need. But the population size is good to think about, and as for the bunny cafe having trouble, that makes sense based off of what you're saying. I really appreciate the info!

Pennsylvasia t1_ja9hoht wrote on February 27, 2023 at 8:51 PM

The tribulations of the bunny cafe were fairly well documented online earlier this year, until the would-be owner hid all their tweets: https://old.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/zz7x1j/update_on_the_bunny_cafe_from_its_owner/ Not so much lack of demand as gross incompetence, financial illiteracy, and a lack of animal safety. There were also some cat cafes here, which added their own share of drama to the yinzer internet (search Black Cat Market). I know cafes exist in other parts of the world, but I think there are too many obstacles in place to make them viable here.

I have to wonder if the risks of a niche, non-animal small business would be mitigated somewhat by owning the space and living above it. I've sometimes fantasized about opening a little stationary store or something, if I were wealthy enough to not care about whether I turned a profit.

migzors OP t1_ja9k2hq wrote on February 27, 2023 at 9:05 PM

Wow, that's incredibly sad to hear. I know some folks are super eager to put the cart before the horse, but in the end, it always ends up the same way, failure.

Thanks for letting me know about this, I wish I would have popped my head in here sooner to see what their tweets were all about.

If we do end up in the area with a store front, perhaps we could work with an existing organization to provide a space for events/bonding/bunny sitting/boarding instead.