The favored Choose of the Litter thrift retailer whose proceeds go towards spaying and neutering unowned cats is relocating from its longtime house on Piner Street.
The transfer is an element of a bigger effort by Forgotten Felines, the nonprofit that operates the Santa Rosa retailer, to assist curb the inhabitants of stray cats within the county.
Choose of the Litter is taking on the previous Joann Materials location and an adjoining retail house on Industrial Drive and Cleveland Avenue in north Santa Rosa.
Retailer supervisor Brian Benn and a small body of workers and volunteers have been on the web site since early August, ripping out previous carpet and taking down rows of shelving that when lined the humanities and craft retailer in preparation for the transfer later this month.
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Pip Marquez de la Plata, government director of Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County, assess the inside of a former Joann Materials retailer which would be the future house of the Choose of the Litter Thrift Store in Santa Rosa Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
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Pip Marquez de la Plata, government director of Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County, assess the inside of a former Joann Materials retailer which would be the future house of the Choose of the Litter Thrift Store in Santa Rosa Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
Develop
It’s one of many largest initiatives the group has launched into since launching 35 years in the past and comes amid a push to extend capability at its spay and neuter clinics.
“This can be a big enterprise for us,” Government Director Pip Marquez de la Plata mentioned.
The group final yr spayed, neutered and supplied different medical care to about 4,500 cats by Forgotten Feline’s entice, neuter and return program the place cats are introduced in by neighborhood members for providers, fastened after which launched in the identical space the place they had been caught.
It was a file yr for the group, however Marquez de la Plata mentioned the group’s purpose is to repair a median of 8,000 cats yearly to stabilize and cut back the stray inhabitants.
Retailer gross sales are essential to supporting that work.
However efforts to generate extra income at Choose of the Litter have been hampered by the store’s present web site, which has little room to simply accept extra donations and restricted parking.
Group officers hope the brand new, expanded footprint will permit them to draw extra customers and settle for extra donations to maintain the ground consistently stocked with new stock.
A grand opening is ready for Sept. 25 at 3620 Industrial Dr.
Group centered on strays
Forgotten Felines fastened 180 cats in its first yr, however because the group sought to assist extra animals, members struggled with bringing in regular donations to assist fund surgical procedures.
“I feel they realized that they had been having to spend as a lot time making an attempt to get individuals to present us cash as they had been making an attempt to assist the cats,” Marquez de la Plata mentioned of these early days.
The thought for a thrift store that might present a devoted income supply was born out of that frustration.
Choose of the Litter opened at 1701 Piner Rd. in 1997, initially occupying nearly 1 / 4 of the house it does immediately.
Over the subsequent decade, income from the shop allowed Forgotten Felines to extend the variety of surgical procedures its workforce supplied to a median of two,000 yearly.
Right here’s the whopper statistic underscoring that mission: An unspayed feminine cat, her mate and their offspring can produce practically 12,000 cats in 5 years, the group estimates.
Marquez de la Plata mentioned 75% to 80% of the stray cat inhabitants in a sure space have to be fastened to assist deliver the inhabitants down however the group’s purpose is to succeed in 100% of the stray inhabitants.
The nonprofit hosts as much as three spay and neuter clinics per week at its Empire Industrial Court docket headquarters the place a workforce of veterinarians, registered veterinary technicians and volunteers present care to about 50 cats throughout every clinic.
On a current Wednesday, vet techs prepped cats for surgical procedure, administered vaccines and flea and tick therapies, and checked for ear mites, lesions and different accidents.
About 46 cats ranging in age from kittens to seniors had been introduced in for providers.
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Volunteers and employees members take care of cats recovering from spaying and neutering surgical procedures at Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
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Volunteers and employees members take care of cats recovering from spaying and neutering surgical procedures at Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
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Neuters are performed contained in the clinic and take about one minute, whereas spays, that are extra concerned and take about 10 minutes, are performed in a cell clinic parked outdoors the constructing.
As soon as the process is full, the cats are moved to an statement space the place they’re supplied fluids and volunteers monitor their pulse and temperature earlier than they’re positioned in crates the place they’re held till they arrive out of anesthesia and are able to be launched.
Growth comes as retailer revenues, donations degree off
Alterations and different veterinary providers value about $400 per cat and Forgotten Felines covers the invoice for cats that require extra intensive care at a veterinary hospital.
Retailer gross sales make up about half of the group’s annual revenue and had grown lately as secondhand clothes and different items surged in recognition, particularly amongst youthful customers.
Public tax filings present the group reported about $1.48 million in product sales in 2023, the newest yr for which filings had been out there.
On the busiest days, the shop has finalized about 350 gross sales, however retailer officers estimate they’ll see twice as many consumers flipping by the racks and sifting by its expansive assortment of books, films, music and toys.
However constraints on the store have led gross sales to degree off previously yr, Marquez de la Plata mentioned.
Donations, which additionally assist offset among the prices, are also flat, he mentioned.
“We’re at this peak proper now the place we have to determine the best way to get more cash from each the shop, from our donors, in order that we will do the work and continue to grow,” Marquez de la Plata mentioned.
The group had been looking for a brand new house for no less than three years. The suitable location can be bigger and permit them to retailer extra stock, have ample parking and be near the present retailer the place the group has constructed a loyal following.
Benn, the thrift retailer’s supervisor, mentioned officers checked out a number of choices together with the Furnishings 2000 retailer on Vary Avenue and the previous Orchard Provide {Hardware} on Cleveland Avenue.
Then in June the Joann retailer, which closed in Could after the nationwide retailer declared chapter, and an adjoining house beforehand occupied by a furnishings consignment store grew to become out there.
The house was practically twice the scale of Choose of the Litter’s present store at 18,500 sq. toes and only a mile away, Benn mentioned.
Officers jumped on the alternative.
Nonprofit officers hope to extend attain
The transfer is considerably dangerous, Marquez de la Plata acknowledged.
“We all know we’re going to take a success due to this, from the transition interval itself and spending cash on the work,” he mentioned. “We’re making an attempt to do it for as little cash as doable and depend on individuals’s good will to assist a nonprofit the place we will as a result of we simply wish to concentrate on serving to cats.”
A lot of the demolition and renovation is happing inhouse to assist preserve prices down and Benn plans to reuse among the present fixtures left behind by the material retailer.
Former retailer workers and group members have come to assist with the transfer and an electrician is donating his time.
However officers consider it is going to repay.
Marquez de la Plata estimated the group should herald no less than 25% extra income to keep up the present degree of providers and canopy elevated lease bills, which officers consider is doable.
Any further income above that may permit Forgotten Felines to extend the variety of spay and neuter clinics hosted weekly.
That coupled with a brand new software program the group developed that helps map and observe cat colonies, the cats’ circumstances and their wants will assist the group present extra focused care, he mentioned.
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A handwritten word studying “Use caution- very playful and a bit of nuts” hangs on the crate of a stray cat at Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
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A handwritten word studying “Use caution- very playful and a bit of nuts” hangs on the crate of a stray cat at Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
Develop
The group’s purpose is to change a median of 6,000 cats by 2026 and eight,000 the next yr to maintain up with the fast tempo at which cats reproduce and management the inhabitants long-term, he mentioned.
“We’re excited for this new house not just for the neighborhood, however for the influence it is going to have on our capacity to help unowned cats in Sonoma County with the identical love and compassion we’ve at all times supplied,” Marquez de la Plata mentioned.
Choose of the Litter’s Piner Street location is tentatively scheduled to shut Sept. 14 and the group will start accepting donations at its new location Sept. 18 earlier than the shop opens the next week.
Folks considering serving to or changing into concerned with Forgotten Felines could make monetary contributions on-line, volunteer or store on the retailer. For extra data contact Forgotten Felines by calling 707-576-7999 or emailing data@forgottenfelines.com.
You’ll be able to attain Employees Author Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.
