Purrfiction pairs secondhand books with adoptable cats in Eastern Market

Purrfiction opened in Eastern Market with a premise that reads like a setup: a bookstore that is also a cat adoption center. The store sits at 1948 Division St., Suite 106, and bills itself as Detroit's first independent bookstore that doubles as a cat adoption and donation space.

Founder Emma Spadafore framed the idea on a GoFundMe she ran ahead of the opening, writing that after six years in corporate America she was taking the leap to pursue her passions for learning and for animals, cats in particular. The fundraiser asked for $5,500 toward the build-out.

The shopping side leans secondhand. Spadafore's fundraiser described an inventory of roughly 80 percent used books and 20 percent new, weighted toward fiction and toward independent and local authors. The store also stocks handmade goods from Michigan and other makers, from bookmarks to candles to locally made catnip toys, along with snacks and drinks that include gluten-free and vegan options, per the store's site.

The cats are kept deliberately separate from the shelves. A chunk of the startup money raised online went specifically to furnishings for the adoption area: a retractable partition or mobile enclosure, a portable utility sink for sanitation, and a small refrigerator for refreshments, according to the GoFundMe. The point was to give foster cats their own controlled space so they are not loose in a retail floor that would stress them out.

Adoptions run on a schedule rather than around the clock. The store hosts local cat rescues on Saturdays, with adoptable cats on site until 2 p.m., per Purrfiction's website. The plan laid out before opening was to partner with foster-based rescues for adoption events a few times a month, and the shop has named partners including Colony Cat Club, Detroit Alley Cats, and Animal House of Southeast Michigan. Because the rescues are foster-based, the animals live with their regular fosters the rest of the week and come to the store for the meet-and-greet windows.

A portion of sales is directed back to the rescues the store works with, an arrangement Spadafore positioned from the start as a way to take some pressure off volunteer-run groups. The store also offers animal rescuers an extra discount at checkout when they identify themselves, according to its site.

Spadafore also pitched Purrfiction as a community room, not just a register. The pre-opening plan promised monthly book clubs, educational workshops, poetry readings, crafting nights, rescue focus groups, and small-group fitness, the kind of programming that fills a calendar between Saturdays.

Purrfiction, 1948 Division St., Suite 106, Detroit, in Eastern Market.