The owner of a popular North East cat cafe has announced it is closing its doors for good as a direct result of the Coronavirus crisis.
Mog on the Tyne became the region鈥檚 first cat cafe to open to the public five years ago, giving visitors the chance to meet its resident family of cats over a cup of coffee.
The cats attracted visitors from across the region and beyond, with queues of people regularly seen outside the entrance, its popularity aided by a strong social media prescence and merchandise featuring its feline stars.
The cafe joined leisure and retail businesses across the world in closing its doors when lockdown arrived in March, with all the cats including siblings Rum and Sybil, Wednesday and Bear, Ballet, Jaffa, Stan, Gary, Tyrian, Gizmo and Sir Francis 鈥 all former rescue cats 鈥 being safely sent to live with the cat cafe workers.
Since then, Mog on the Tyne has kept customers updated with regular Facebook and Instagram posts, while owner Katie Jane Glazier, of Northumberland, has been trying to work out how she could possibly, safely, reopen the cafe while also adhering to Government guidance on social distancing.
However, with no date in sight for reopenings within the leisure and hospitality, which also faces the tough task of altering ways of operating if it is to meet guidance to help stop the spread of Covid-19, Ms Glazier says she has been forced to make the heartbreaking decision to close the cafe for good.
Announcing the closure on Facebook, she said: 鈥淚t is with a heavy heart and great sadness to have to announce that we must close our little cafe.
鈥淢og is so much more than just a business, it is a community for like minded cat folk, a safe and happy place filled with joy, love and laughter for so many.
鈥淲e have worked so hard and loved every minute, but sadly, uncertainty with the future due to Covid and our lease coming to an end, we just aren鈥檛 in a position to fight.
She said trying to bounce back was going to prove to be an impossible task. The five-year lease had also come to an end 鈥 and as these are uncertain times renewing for a further five years wasn鈥檛 a viable option.
鈥淕oing forward it has been impossible to plan reopening as the guidelines aren鈥檛 sufficiently clear on a business with animals touching customers and so on,鈥 she said.
鈥淎lso the reality of the business model and anyone in the hospitality sector is that you need the bumper bookings in at weekends and holidays.
鈥淎lready this year half terms, Easter and now summer have been wiped out or severely restricted. In addition there isn鈥檛 really the flexibility in the property sector that hospitality needs right now and will need going forward. It鈥檚 also a massive concern that a second wave will knock everything back again.
鈥淎nd the cafe can鈥檛 pivot its business to takeaway unfortunately!
鈥淎s for what I鈥檒l do next, who knows? I鈥檓 a Northumbria University fashion graduate and have been taking pottery lessons and I鈥檝e just bought a pottery wheel.
鈥淚n running this business though so much has been learned. It鈥檚 shown that it鈥檚 not all traditional pubs and restaurants in the North East.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been brilliant to provide something different and the locals and visitors from every corner of the world responded so positively.
鈥淲hen I opened the cafe I was sure there was space for something different and there was, and still is. Now some different thinking needs to go into how we all operate differently for the foreseeable.鈥
