Cat News

New cat cafe will prowl into East Dallas from kitty rescue group

Gratuitous kitten photo designed to make the reader click. Fortunately, the content of this story justifies the click.

Photo courtesy of Ariana Delbar

A well known Dallas cat rescue organization is expanding its reach with a new cat cafe. Called the Cat Café, it's from nonprofit A Voice for All Paws (AVAP), and will provide a home for rescued cats, a sanctuary for cat lovers to grab a coffee, and a place for abandoned cats to get access to veterinary care.

The cafe will open side by side with an adoption center and luxury boarding near Garland and Peavy.

AVAP president Caroline Stovall, who has worked with a number of rescues in Dallas, and her husband Rob have purchased two buildings: 1211 Casa Vale, which will be home to the cat café and adoption area; and 10320 Garland Rd., which will be home to the boarding facility.

According to a release, these buildings are being renovated with a planned opening later this year.

"Our team, along with volunteers, will run the cat café and adoption center," Stovall says. "We will run it like a business with a coffee shop where people can work. We see the coffee shop as a means of funding our non-for-profit organization, too."

AVAP will do treatments such as spay/neuter, medications, and baths, as well as provide a place for cats to become socialized around people and other animals. Having a place where people can visit cats ready for adoption will be a huge benefit to AVAP.

"Cats generally receive less attention than dogs when it comes to shelters," Stovall says. "Creating a center and cafe that focuses specifically on cats and kittens will help the community meet them and find their forever homes."

Nancy Stephenson, AVAP's original founder and well known for her cat rescue work in Dallas, relocated to Oregon in July, but is still involved in operations, fundraising, and marketing, while Stovall handles day-to-day operations.

Board members also involved include Libby Cooley, Shelley Dai, and Dr. Gail Bushur-Irwin (Medical Director), who are all East Dallas residents.

Volunteers are welcome, as are donations, at avoiceforallpaws.com.

The organization offers these tips if you see stray cats:

If you see kittens, leave them alone. Moms have to leave to go to eat. They rarely abandon kittens.
Don't give cats away without getting them spayed or neutered.
Fees for cat adoptions are higher because cats often require more medical needs than dogs. Cats have a more difficult time regulating body temperature (hypothermia), and they can have hypoglycemia.

coffee pets

Closure news

Beloved Dallas retailer Weir’s Furniture to close after 78 years

Facebook/Weir's

Weir's Furniture is closing all locations.

Weir's Furniture, a family-owned company that has sold home furnishings to generations of North Texans since 1948, is closing the doors to all stores for good.

Going-out-of-business sales will begin Thursday, March 26, and the stores will close when all merchandise is sold - likely May or June, a spokesperson says. Weir's currently has four locations in Dallas-Fort Worth: on Travis Street in the Knox-Henderson neighborhood, in Farmers Branch, Plano, and Southlake.

Online retail operations will wind down, as well.

"Founded by J. Ray and Bea Weir with a single storefront on Knox Street in Dallas, Weir’s was built on a simple but enduring philosophy: honor God and serve people," says a release. "What began as a modest neighborhood store has since grown into four locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, grounded in unwavering commitments to courtesy, respect, integrity, and offering high-quality furniture at a fair price."

Al Boulden, Weir’s Chairman of the Board, says the decision to close after nearly eight decades was made only after exploring "all reasonable alternatives. They carefully evaluated the company's long-term financial position, difficult market conditions and operational challenges, he said, but ultimately they determined that Weir's could no longer continue to operate sustainably.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, but closing now enables us to honor J. Ray and Bea’s legacy by finishing well and taking care of our employees,” Boulden says in the release. “From the very beginning, Weir’s mission has been rooted in honoring God and serving our people.

"We are incredibly grateful to our customers, employees, and the broader community who have supported us for so many decades and made Weir’s a beloved retailer throughout North Texas.”

Weir's Furniture Plano The Weir's store in Plano.Photo courtesy of Weir's

Over the decades, Weir’s grew beyond a traditional furniture retailer into a retail institution in Dallas-Fort Worth, with ties to local charities, ministries, and schools. Its in-store “Country Store,” introduced in 1963, became a draw with its old-fashioned candy and inexpensive treats that appealed to generations.

Leadership of the company remained within the founding family for much of its history, passing from founder J. Ray Weir to his son Dan Weir in 1972, and later to nephew Mark Moore, who served as CEO until 2024 as the last family member in the top role.

The company also built a reputation for prioritizing relationships — from paying vendors promptly, even during challenging periods like the COVID-19 pandemic, to maintaining a workforce with unusually long tenures, with some employees staying for more than four decades.

“We’ve built generational relationships with both customers and employees,” Weir family member, current board member and former CEO Mark Moore says in the release. “While your patronage has sustained us, it has been your friendships, encouragement, and faith in our team that truly defined us. We are proud of what we created and thankful for every person who has walked through our doors.”

Closing sales will begin on March 26 and customers are encouraged to visit their local store while merchandise is still available, they say.

furniture closings