Popular East Side “drink some drinks and pet/adopt some cats” spot Sip & Purr Cat Cafe, located at 2021 E. Ivanhoe Pl. since opening in 2018, announced Thursday that it will high-tail it to Brady Street in 2024.
“Early 2024, Sip & Purr is moving to Brady Street!” reads a social media announcement. “We couldn’t be more exited to stay on the East Side while being in closer proximity to the Bucks Deer District, downtown, and more! Not only is Sip & Purr a cat adoption location, we’re a popular destination! Our new location will be more accessible to folks, allowing us to continue our mission of saving cats!”
CBS 58 says Sip & Purr will move to a recently constructed building on Brady Street—833 E. Brady St., to be exact—and that the cat cafe will purchase the building. The building was developed by Three Leaf Partners, a company co-founded by Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton.
Talk of a possible Sip & Purr relocation began this past June, when owner Katy McHugh expressed frustration at the “pedestrianization” of the block of Ivanhoe her business occupies. McHugh claimed her revenue and sales were down 51% since traffic, cars, and parking were banned from the plaza. At a city meeting discussing the possible pedestrianization of Brady Street, she said she was “obviously looking to relocate” Sip & Purr, and that a non-pedestrianized Brady Street was “on the map” for that relocation.
Take a peek at the claws-out sign posted in Sip & Purr’s window this summer!
So what’s going to change at Sip & Purr until the big move? “For right now, absolutely nothing. It’s business as usual,” the social media post continues. “We’ll keep you updated, we promise!”
So, until the end of the year, Sip & Purr Cat Cafe’s location remains on the north end of Black Cat Alley. No relation.
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