our mission

Our mission is threefold: to help reduce the needy cat population by providing a quality, temporary living environment for homeless cats while facilitating adoptions; to offer a thoughtfully-designed, clean, comfortable space for cat lovers to interact with cats outside of a shelter or private home; and to provide a high-quality, neighborhood cafe experience featuring delicious food and drinks.

about the owner

Molly Hutton’s interest in opening a cat cafe has many sources of inspiration, from her lifelong love of cats (she currently has three cats of her own that were adopted from local shelters) to her training as an art historian. The skills that she developed over a professional career of working as a curator infuses the Buckminster project, from the decision to set up shop at 577 Niagara Street, in a beautiful, yet in-need-of-attention, mid-nineteenth-century brick building, to the selection of the award-winning design team Davidson Rafailidis to create a distinctive, multi-functional interior space inviting to both humans and cats. Molly wanted to create a sophisticated, yet comfortable and welcoming space where people can connect with animals. She is thrilled that Second Chance Sheltering Network, Inc., has come aboard as the business’s rescue partner as they have a proven record of conscientious and compassionate foster-based work with the strays and neglected cats of the city.

Molly has been impressed by the growth of small, independent businesses since she arrived in Buffalo in 2007, as well as the growth of a customer base to support unique commercial ventures. The entrepreneurial opportunities the city affords are a perfect fit for a business that serves the needs of animal rescue and welfare while providing residents with a relaxing and potentially therapeutic environment. Although not native Western New Yorkers, Molly’s family is happily settled in Buffalo, and has watched with interest and enthusiasm the positive developments taking place in recent years on the west side and in the city as a whole. Molly is excited to join the Niagara Street business community and the Western New York animal rescue community with an owner-operated, small business and hopes to be able to contribute to making the world a better place for both people and animals.

The business is named after Molly’s grey cat, Buckminster, who has his own social media following on Instagram (@buckminstercat). Buckminster was adopted from the City of Buffalo Animal Shelter in 2012 and is named after the architect and inventor, R. Buckminster Fuller.

our cat adoption partner

In order to ensure that the cats you will be interacting with are healthy, socialized, and acclimated to both people and other cats, our rescue partner, Second Chance Sheltering Network, Inc., selects adoption-ready cats from their existing shelter or foster populations. Second Chance Sheltering Network, Inc., is a local, foster-based rescue organization. Buckminster’s serves as a communal foster home for a group of 6-8 pre-screened Second Chance cats. Unless otherwise specified, all cats up for adoption at Buckminster’s are Western New York rescues.

Potential adopters will need to complete the normal application processes already set forth by our rescue partner, Second Chance Sheltering Network, Inc.