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 up 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 website since early August, ripping out previous carpet and taking down rows of shelving that after lined the humanities and craft retailer in preparation for the transfer later this month.
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Pip Marquez de la Plata, govt 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, govt 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)
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 enormous endeavor for us,” Government Director Pip Marquez de la Plata stated.
The group final 12 months spayed, neutered and supplied different medical care to about 4,500 cats by means of Forgotten Feline’s lure, neuter and return program the place cats are introduced in by group members for companies, mounted after which launched in the identical space the place they have been caught.
It was a document 12 months for the group, however Marquez de la Plata stated the group’s purpose is to repair a mean 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 website, which has little room to just accept extra donations and restricted parking.
Group officers hope the brand new, expanded footprint will enable them to draw extra buyers and settle for extra donations to maintain the ground continually stocked with new stock.
A grand opening is ready for Sept. 25 at 3620 Industrial Dr.
Group centered on strays
Forgotten Felines mounted 180 cats in its first 12 months, however because the group sought to assist extra animals, members struggled with bringing in regular donations to assist fund surgical procedures.
“I believe they realized that they have been having to spend as a lot time attempting to get folks to present us cash as they have been attempting to assist the cats,” Marquez de la Plata stated 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 right now.
Over the subsequent decade, income from the shop allowed Forgotten Felines to extend the variety of surgical procedures its group supplied to a mean of two,000 yearly.
Right here’s the whopper statistic underscoring that mission: An unspayed feminine cat, her mate and their offspring can produce almost 12,000 cats in 5 years, the group estimates.
Marquez de la Plata stated 75% to 80% of the stray cat inhabitants in a sure space have to be mounted 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 every week at its Empire Industrial Courtroom headquarters the place a group of veterinarians, registered veterinary technicians and volunteers present care to about 50 cats throughout every clinic.
On a latest 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 have been introduced in for companies.
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Volunteers and workers members look after 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 workers members look after 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)
Neuters are carried out contained in the clinic and take about one minute, whereas spays, that are extra concerned and take about 10 minutes, are carried out in a cellular clinic parked exterior the constructing.
As soon as the process is full, the cats are moved to an remark 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 stage off
Alterations and different veterinary companies 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 in recent times as secondhand clothes and different items surged in recognition, particularly amongst youthful buyers.
Public tax filings present the group reported about $1.48 million in product sales in 2023, the latest 12 months for which filings have been obtainable.
On the busiest days, the shop has finalized about 350 gross sales, however retailer officers estimate they’ll see twice as many patrons flipping by means of the racks and sifting by means of its expansive assortment of books, motion pictures, music and toys.
However constraints on the store have led gross sales to stage off previously 12 months, Marquez de la Plata stated.
Donations, which additionally assist offset among the prices, are also flat, he stated.
“We’re at this peak proper now the place we have to work out easy methods to get extra money from each the shop, from our donors, in order that we are able to do the work and continue to grow,” Marquez de la Plata stated.
The group had been searching for a brand new house for not less than three years. The precise 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, stated 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 obtainable.
The house was almost twice the dimensions of Choose of the Litter’s present store at 18,500 sq. ft and only a mile away, Benn stated.
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 successful due to this, from the transition interval itself and spending cash on the work,” he stated. “We’re attempting to do it for as little cash as attainable and depend on folks’s good will to assist a nonprofit the place we are able to as a result of we simply need to deal with 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 staff and group members have come to assist with the transfer and an electrician is donating his time.
However officers consider it can repay.
Marquez de la Plata estimated the group should usher in not less than 25% extra income to keep up the present stage of companies and canopy elevated lease bills, which officers consider is doable.
Any further income above that can enable 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 stated.
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A handwritten be aware 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 be aware 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)
The group’s purpose is to change a mean of 6,000 cats by 2026 and eight,000 the next 12 months to maintain up with the fast tempo at which cats reproduce and management the inhabitants long-term, he stated.
“We’re excited for this new house not just for the group, however for the affect it can have on our capacity to help unowned cats in Sonoma County with the identical love and compassion we’ve all the time provided,” Marquez de la Plata stated.
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 eager about serving to or turning 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 may attain Workers Author Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.
