Chattanooga code enforcement officers recently informed the owners of the Naughty Cat Cafe that the mobile sign reading “30 cats inside” it uses to draw in visitors violates city code and must be removed.
Heath Hanson, who co-owns the cat cafe in an old Blockbuster Video at the foot of Lookout Mountain with his wife, Whitney Sickels, said in a phone interview that the couple first heard the sign was in violation of city code when three enforcement officers showed up at the business Wednesday morning.
They were told their handmade rolling sign, similar to those used by restaurants to announce daily specials, had to be taken down. The business relies on the sign for advertisement, and many visitors say they come to the cafe because of the sign, said Hanson, who has rolled the sign out near the road beside the business and back inside every day since it opened nearly five years ago.
The day following the sign’s removal, the business had its least-busy Thursday in history. The average number of visitors each Thursday is 55, but last week it was 12, Hanson said.
Labor Day weekend is typically one of the busiest times for the cat cafe, which in addition to being a business is also a platform for finding adoptive homes for cats that would otherwise be in local shelters.