By Nina Huang
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Mary Wu gave up her corporate job to pursue her dream of opening up a dog cafe. Earlier this summer, her dream came true.
Instead of visiting Asia for their animal-centric cafes, dog owners can bring their pups and head to Coby’s Cafe.
In the space that used to be Tully’s Coffee back in 2019 in the north Queen Anne area, Coby’s Cafe is the first health department approved dog cafe where people can bring their dogs to socialize in a comfortable environment to enjoy food and coffee while meeting fellow dog lovers.
Coby’s Cafe at 101 Nickerson St, Building B, Ste 200, in Seattle
When Wu was an expat teaching English in South Korea in 2009, someone recommended that she visit a dog cafe. It was like a doggy daycare with a coffee shop upstairs open to the public. People could buy cake and coffee. Wu thought it was clever and had always loved dogs. Growing up in Taiwan, her family owned a dog, but they couldn’t bring it to Seattle when they moved.
Fast forward to when Wu and her husband, John Taing, first started dating, and they had trouble finding cafes where their dogs could also hang out. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple adopted Coby, and found it difficult to find dog-friendly places where they could be off-leash and comfortable. That’s when the idea came to Wu’s mind.
Mary Wu and her dog Coby
Two years ago, Wu realized she needed a break from corporate life. As a working mom, she felt mentally and emotionally drained. Despite being good at her job and loving everything about it, it wasn’t rewarding and she was constantly running on zero.
She didn’t feel like she was doing a good enough job as a mom. She was doing great at work, but she had high standards for herself.
“I wanted to do something that I was more passionate about to feel a sense of reward and satisfaction to fill my buckets,” she said.
So she decided to embark on the journey of starting her own dog cafe.
Even during the early stages of research and business planning, she was learning a lot and quickly got the sense of satisfaction and reward she was looking for. She enjoyed being able to align her passions with work.
Looking back, she worked 12 different jobs before starting Coby’s Cafe, but she was able to take skills from each of those experiences and apply it to what she’s doing now.
Wu studied graphic design and she’s leveraging those skills for a lot of the social media marketing campaigns. She was also an executive assistant that has helped her stay organized with spreadsheets and calendaring. She even worked in recruitment and buying/purchasing, which has allowed her to create her own system when it came to hiring staff and buying merchandise for Coby’s Cafe.
“It was amazing how everything unfolded. I had an ah-ha moment where I realized I didn’t waste any of those experiences. Going through job after job, I was discouraged when they didn’t work out, but all of that was really useful in getting me to where I’m at today,” she said.
“The only thing that made me almost want to give up was looking for space. Without space, this can’t come true,” Wu said.
The process to search for the right location took over two years and she had to change real estate agents three times. Wu shared that searching for commercial space was so different from residential. They had to take a big risk with paying upfront by taking out a loan before even opening up the cafe.
“You’re putting all your money into the space that you can’t take away when you leave the lease,” she said.
Taing has played a helpful and important role in the process. Wu also feels proud to be able to talk to her son, Eli, about the business.
“He’s very proud, too. At home, he’ll use boxes to make a pretend coffee shop. He thinks it’s fun and I feel proud that I can share this with him,” she said.
Wu’s long-term goal is to open up a few more dog cafes.
“I think every neighborhood needs a dog cafe where humans and their dogs can be in public and socialize without being uncomfortable or stared at,” she said.
Wu said it’s hard work, but rewarding seeing the customers in the cafe and seeing the joy on their faces when their dogs are happy. During the soft opening, she heard dog owners talk about where they get their dogs groomed and other sharing of knowledge.
“That’s the kind of dialogue that I want in this space. Getting the dog community together and just helping to give our dogs a better life because there’s so much opportunity.”
Coby’s Cafe will feature menus for pups and their humans. The pup food offerings will be made with all human grade ingredients. Humans can order waffles and their pups can have woofles, pawvocado toast, and pup matcha. The baristas also go through training so they know what to watch out for in the environment.
There are two separate sections where people can order their food and drink and bring it back to the dog section. Dog owners have to register their dog for a nominal fee to hang out at the cafe. Wu’s goal is to eventually roll out a membership system.
The cafe also has a cleaning station, photo booth area, and dog owners can also attend educational events, such as CPR for dogs, nutrition, dental health, and even dog yoga classes.
Wu said they had 53 dogs come through in seven hours during the first weekend of their soft opening.
When Adriana Sanchez took her corgi, Maya, to Coby’s Cafe, it was the first time they went to a dog cafe, and it was a blast because it allowed them to meet new people.
During Kylie Mitsuda’s recent visit to the cafe, she saw firsthand how much joy it brought both dogs and their owners.
“Watching dogs happily mingle while their owners enjoyed a relaxed coffee break really highlighted how essential it is to have a space where we can all feel welcome and connected,” Mitsuda said.
As a fellow AAPI small business owner and self-proclaimed crazy dog mom, Vanessa Ha and her pomsky, Koda Bear, attended several of Coby’s Cafe’s ‘pup-ups.’
Ha shared that it’s important to have more dog-friendly places that are fun for both the humans and their pups, and that Coby’s Cafe offers a selection of treats that both can enjoy.
“I’m doing this for the doggies and parents—that makes me feel really good,” Wu said.
For cafe hours and more information, visit cobyscafe.com.
Nina can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.