Small Business Caturday! 🐱
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Season 2: Episode 46 Description
Ten News Gets Extra: It's Small Business Saturday and we are going crazy for cats! 🐈 Learn why the day was created for small businesses.🛍️ Correspondent Ryan Nerz takes to one purr-fect small business, a cat cafe! 🐾 Hear 5 Fun Facts about our feline friends. 🏬 And test your business knowledge in today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:00
What happens when you put Small Business Saturday together with a bunch of cats? It becomes Small Business Caturday. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Saturday, December 18th. And this is no ordinary episode of the Ten News. This is the Ten News Gets Extra.
Various Voices 0:25
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:32
There's only one more week of holiday shopping before Christmas. Can you believe it? Have you and your family been trying to shop small? It's been a tough decade for small businesses during the holiday shopping season, a major time for earning profits. Local shops were losing customers because of big deals at large chains and online stores. Some small stores were closing down. In 2010, American Express, the credit card company partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to promote a national date to shop with small local businesses. It became known as Small Business Saturday and occurs every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This has grown and it's led to the movement to shop small. There are 32 million small businesses in the United States and Small Business Saturday helped these businesses make $19.8 billion last year.
Sound Bit 1:31
Wow.
Bethany Van Delft 1:33
So, why should we shop small, helping local businesses stay open helps communities. Small business owners are invested in the future of their towns, villages, and neighborhoods. By shopping small, buyers are investing in originality, variety, innovation, and choice in the products and services available where they live. American Express has created an online tool to help you find local small businesses. Check it out in the show notes. Do you and your family try to shop small? Let us know. Email us at hello@thetennews.com and shout out your favorite small businesses. Small businesses can improve communities. But, can they make life better for animals? Here's Ten News correspondent Ryan Nerz to give us the meow-down.
Ryan Nerz 2:33
Small businesses are all around you. As you move around your hometown, you'll see a gift store and a laundromat there. They're an important part of our local communities creating two-thirds of America's new jobs and giving people a sense of connection. For months, I've been curious about one particular small business near my home in Miami. It doesn't deal in bagels or stationery. It deals in Well, I think you'll figure it out. So, we're here at the Cat's Meow Cafe. How does this work?
Speaker 1 3:05
So, we partner with the Miami Dade Animal County Animal Services. All the cats here come from their shelter. We're like a satellite foster site. I can also let him out if you...
Ryan Nerz 3:18
No, no, that's great. So that's Carla. And as you can hear from the meows. We're talking about cats. The Cat's Meow Cafe is unique. It's part cafe, part cat adoption agency. You can come in grab a snack or a drink and then head into the lounge to hang out with a roomful of meowing felines. Cat cafes have been a thing for over 20 years now. The first one was the Cat Flower Garden started in 1998 in Taiwan. Now there are cat cafes in Colombia, Australia, and India and over 100 in the United States. But the concept has been most enthusiastically embraced in Japan, where there are over 150 Cat cafes. But in Japanese cafes, kitties never leave the facility. And though you can pet them, you usually can't pick them up. Aw, man, the Cat's Meow Cafe is different. You get to hold, cuddle, and play with all the cats in the lounge. You can string along with jangly cat toys and watch them frolic on giant cat towers. And, if you feel a special connection, you might even be able to take one home.
Speaker 1 4:27
We foster all the cats that are in the lounge. They eventually become available for adoption. They don't become available right away because a lot of them come from their spay and neuter surgery. So, they're still healing, we still monitor their health. Make sure that they go home healthy. But yeah, it's $17 to go into the lounge to meet the kittens.
Ryan Nerz 4:50
17 bucks to play with kitties for an hour, such a deal. And I've actually been considering getting a pet so this doubles as a cat shopping expedition. If I find one I want to adopt, I just have to pay the $45 fee to the county
Speaker 1 5:04
We always recommend you go in at least once before you adopt. So that way you know which cats or kittens fit well with your personality, your lifestyle.
Ryan Nerz 5:15
How do you know if a cat fits your lifestyle? Well, I guess I'm about to find out. Carla leads me through a little anti-chamber, double door system here. So, they can't get out? Because they're so crafty?
Speaker 1 5:29
Yes, they are. They like to run out with you. So we just closed the doors behind us before we opened the doors.
Ryan Nerz 5:36
I look down at my feet. And I'm surprised to see a cat lurking there in the antechamber.
Speaker 1 5:41
Jennifer, she's actually been here the longest in the lounge. Not as long as Felicity. She's very sweet. She is, she has her moments.
Ryan Nerz 5:54
Does that mean she's not always sweet?
Speaker 1 5:56
Not always she can be a little catty. But, I think it's just because she prefers to be on her own. And in there, there's just way too many cats, so sometimes we just let her sit here.
Ryan Nerz 6:08
Cat lesson number one, they can be catty. Which means what exactly?
Speaker 1 6:14
She is very much a cat or she'll let you know and she doesn't want affection or he doesn't want to be touched. She just wants her space. And yeah, I think a lot of people want to be cuddly with their pets and not and cats aren't like that all the time. So, Jennifer's a great example of that.
Ryan Nerz 6:35
Got it. No force cuddling. Armed with this nugget of wisdom. I enter the cat lounge. Carla explains that many of the cats have special needs.
Speaker 1 6:45
We have three blind cats, and one with one eye. They all are doing great. They're playing with each other like the other cats. They're pretty confident here. The only thing is when people approach them, we always want to let them know to make some noise so they're not startled. They can run and run into a wall just because they get frightened.
Ryan Nerz 7:08
Carla shows me how to crouch down and rub my hands together so that a blind cat knows I'm approaching. And just like that, a tiny black kitten nuzzles right into my hands. Carla seems like a cat whisperer. Maybe she can help me with my dilemma. I moved to a place nearby and I've been thinking about getting a cat. But, I'm kind of worried about the responsibility of it, you know? So yeah. Do you have any recommendations on that?
Speaker 1 7:34
Yeah, if it's your first time adopting a cat, it really depends on your lifestyle too. Everyone here is really sweet. So I think you'll be able to bond with anybody really, but depending on if you're at home a lot or not, is when I am just getting either a kitten or an older cat or like a teenager. Kittens need a lot of attention. And you know, they don't have schedules yet with their life.
Ryan Nerz 8:02
Well, I spend plenty of time at home. But, would I be able to get work done? How much attention do kitties need? As if to answer that question? A black and white kitten jumps inside my backpack. Carla explains that much like baby humans, you've got to keep the young ones on a schedule of eating and playing or they'll get moody and act out.
Speaker 1 8:22
Kittens will need a lot of regular play. They need to be on a schedule or else they're just gonna, like, do whatever they want when they get older. So yeah, they need a lot more attention. And we tell people if you're if you know you can't be attentive, or at least playing with the kitten as often as they need to. That might not be the best pet to take home.
Ryan Nerz 8:45
Okay, sounds a bit more labor-intensive than I expected. Ironically, Karla suggests that if I don't have time for one kitty, well, she has an even better idea.
Speaker 1 8:55
We also recommend if you were to take a kitten home, and you don't have as much time to take home more than one kitten because as you see, like, they're playing with each other and they'll chase each other and they'll do much better.
Ryan Nerz 9:10
I'm not great at math, but two cats seem like double the responsibility. And sure enough, as we're discussing the possibilities, a cat fight breaks out. They have little bites. Steering clear of the fighting felines I decided to make the rounds. There's Thomas, a black and white cat playing with a scratcher toy. Carla says he's a solo cat who likes our independence. There's Vinny and Pauly, who are brothers and currently chasing each other around. There's Callie who had her claws removed and still seems a little anxious about it. And then a terribly cute Tabby with neurological issues, who sort of bobbles her head when I pet her. It's a cute overload. Once again, I asked Carla if she could lead me in the right direction.
Speaker 1 9:56
I always get attached and then they get adopted so I try not to do that.
Ryan Nerz 10:01
Turns out her first piece of advice works best. Don't force affection. When I sit down a cat comes right up to me. He looks like you put a tiger in the dryer and shrunk it. He starts playing with my microphone, bopping the phone cover with his paw. I grabbed him and put them in my lap. He's got green eyes like a Caribbean sea that peer up into mine. Like we're long last soulmates. His name is John. We bond for about 20 minutes and he seems to almost pose for our selfies. When I asked Carla about them. I'm both saddened and a little bit relieved to hear he isn't up for immediate adoption. He has a few medical issues that still need to be resolved. Carla says he might be ready to go by next weekend. But I would have to be ready to pounce. Pun intended because people come in ready to adopt on the weekends.
Speaker 1 10:53
We usually do like three to five per weekend. So it'll be like three, three to five on a Saturday. And on a Sunday. So like 10 over the weekend on like, when we have a lot of kittens. Some days like they'll go home immediately we'll have like a line down the door or some days like we just people come in later in the day. We don't really know.
Ryan Nerz 11:21
Despite my cat crush on John the kitty, I decided to wait. Frankly, I'm not sure I'm ready for the commitment. When I leave the cat lounge, I look back to see if John has given me a look of longing. But he's already playing in a little cat maze. He has the attention span of, well, a kitten. But as I said bye to Carla, I noticed that I'm smiling. I feel calm. Not only did I spend an hour playing with some adorable cats, but I've supported a local business. I tell Carla that I'll be back. This is so much fun. I'm gonna have to do this every week. If I can find it in my budget, my cat budget. If you can find it in your budget, or at least in your schedule. I strongly suggest you find a small business near you like the Cat's Meow Cafe and go check it out. Maybe you'll find a Christmas gift for someone. Maybe you'll meet a neighbor. You'll definitely feel more connected to your community. And maybe just maybe you'll find a new best friend.
Bethany Van Delft 12:23
A visit to a local cat cafe sounds like a fun family outing. Thanks, Ryan. Those cat cafe cats say that 10 times fast, are fascinating creatures who do fascinating things. Here are five fast fun facts about cats. Number one, cats are tiny tigers. Their DNA is 95% the same as a tiger. Number two, cats are the only mammal who can't taste sweet. Bummer. Number three. Cats camels in giraffes are the only creatures who walk by putting both right feet first, then both left feet. Number four, cats are crepuscular. That means they're most active at dawn and dusk. Yeah, they are. Number five, when a cat's tail looks like a question mark, they want to play. Okay, it's time for...
Various Voices 13:32
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 13:35
Trivia on the Ten. Small businesses sell all kinds of products and services from dog goggles, Doggles, to goats you can rent to mow your lawn. But, what product is the best selling item of all time? Is it a) the iPhone b) Tickle Me Elmo or c) Rubik's Cube? Did you guess it? The answer is C. The Rubik's Cube is the best-selling item of all time. It was originally called Magic Cube. And it took the inventor Erna Rubik a month to solve his own cube. Now I don't feel so bad. Time's up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is petting tiny tigers and includes Tracey Crooks, Tessa Flannery, Pete Musto, Adam Barnard, and Nathalie Alonso. Ryan Nerz contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle. And our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft. And thanks for listening to the Ten News. Caturday, Caturday, Caturday, Caturday!
