The Purrfect Bean

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

A kitten, a towel, and a sink walk into a cat café… and Richmond’s newest small business suddenly has a renovation project no one ordered.

That’s the real-life plot twist at The Purrfect Bean, the cat café that’s only been open a few months and already earned a loyal following of latte lovers, students, and adopters who swear by its cozy vibes and cuddly residents. 

All it took was one freak accident — involving a mischievous kitten named Roller — to shut the whole place down for what owners say could be “at least the rest of the year.”

Roller

Roller

The Purrfect Bean

The good news? 

Every single cat is fine, safe, and now lounging in their former foster homes like nothing happened. The bad news? The building did not bounce back nearly as gracefully.

According to the café owners, Servpro crews had to tear into the floors and bathroom in the cat lounge and start replacing ceilings and walls in the café space after flooding leaked through. 

Staff are still waiting to learn whether they’ll have to replace key equipment, including the espresso machine and grinder, which could stretch the closure even longer.

It’s a tough hit for any business, but especially one built on a mission. 

Founder Michelle Langham, who moved from Northern Virginia to Powhatan in 2022, has a long background in animal rescue. 

She and her spouse look after donkeys, chickens, dogs, and cats, and she fell for Richmond’s small-town feel before deciding to open a café that offered warmth for people and homes for homeless cats. 

The Purrfect Bean launched with the values of love, kindness, compassion, and community — and Richmond immediately met that energy.

Now, the community is pushing back just as hard.

The first pop-up fundraiser is set for 2 p.m. at Byrd Park, hosted by Jace from The Exit Plan and Alex, better known to TikTok as “the tiramisu guy.” 

They’re doing a pay-what-you-can menu collab, and Alex is bringing free tiramisu. Proceeds support the café’s employees, who suddenly lost paychecks right as the holidays hit.

More pop-ups are in the works, according to the business, and a GoFundMe has been launched specifically to help staff through the closure. 

The fundraiser has already pulled in more than $7,412 from 148 donors, led by organizer Cade Carter for Michelle Langham, who explained the incident plainly: “Between a cat named Roller, a towel, and a sink, we had some major flooding in our cat lounge, which leaked into our cafe space.” 

The post emphasizes that “the cats are all safe and unharmed” and that 100 percent of donations support staff for missed hours.

Supporters are spreading the word, including community member Emma Powers, who urged people to help if they can, writing that The Purrfect Bean “facilitates the adoption of so many cats and kittens” and that the GoFundMe is going “to the employees to help them get through the extended closure.”

The café is staying optimistic, even while wrapped in plastic sheeting and construction dust. They’re already planning pop-ups. They’re leaning on the city that embraced them. And they’re reminding everyone that this story, like their mission, is built on heart.

“We will come back better than ever,” the café owners said. “Be sure to follow along for the ride.”