A new role play café is opening in Shrewsbury and it's set to celebrate the best of Shropshire's county town - here's how
A new role play café aimed at families which celebrates the best of Shrewsbury both past and present is set to open in the town - here's when.
Called Darwins Town, it is due to launch towards the end of February in the former home of Paws Cafe in Mardol.
The new venture is run by Katie Fields and her partner James Radnor, the same team behind the former cat café which closed down last summer after six and half years in business.
Katie told the Shropshire Star there were three years remaining on the unit's lease so they wanted to create a new venue which would offer a place for young children to play but also celebrate all the best elements of the county town.
Each play area within the new venue is themed around something synonymous with Shrewsbury such as Market Hall, Theatre Severn, the prison, the castle and Shrewsbury Town FC.
The building's landlord is a member of the Gethin family which ran an old garage in Mardol and which also features, along with a mini Paws Cafe.
Katie said: "This is for children aged five and under who can play in the different areas within the café. There is a role play café in pretty much every town but a lot of them are quite generic and have things like a hairdresser, a bakery or a grocery store.
"What we've tried to do is pay homage to the best things about Shrewsbury by looking at all the best parts rather than just having the generic jobs in there.
"It will hopefully instill an interest in the town from a very young age. Rather than having a ball pit and the kids running around and getting hot and sweaty, this is a calmer play environment.
"It's about having that little niche and something for families that we didn't have when our little boy was growing up."
Darwins Town will be open seven days a week, with parents able to book one of three 90-minute slots each day.
A range of hot drinks, cakes and pastries will be available but Katie said they might expand the offering to include a breakfast and lunch menu depending on customer feedback alongside after-school clubs and private event hire.
Alongside the café business, Katie works as supply teacher specialising in food tech while partner James is an engineer.
She said she was inspired to launch the venture after visiting other similar role play cafés and wanted to create something which would stand out in what is already a very crowded market.
"We have thought about it for a few years now as we became fed up with having to travel to places," she said.
"We went to a few similar venues and thought that, if we were to open a role play café, this is the style we would like. There are so many coffee shops in Shrewsbury and covid taught us that you have to diversify to survive.
"It's quite a big site and goes back quite far from the street entrance so just to open that as an everyday coffee shop, when that market is quite overpopulated in Shrewsbury anyway, would not have been a viable business."
She added that she felt the business concept had plenty of potential to be replicated in other towns.
"The idea for the cafés is to promote what is great about their towns," she concluded.
"For example, if you're in Stratford you could look at William Shakespeare and different things that gone on in the town. I can definitely see it being duplicated.
"Our hope is potentially to expand into other places and have a look at what it is that makes people go there and what makes them special. That would be really lovely, it is an aspiration for the business for the next few years."
