Streetwise: Construction starts on cat café, BowWow Meow partners with mobile vet and more Stevens Point business news

STEVENS POINT – What’s happening with businesses in the Stevens Point area?

Streetwise has your answers. These roundups offer an easy way to stay up to date with what’s happening on the Streetwise beat. If you know of a new business, a development or a place that’s closing, send me a note at cshuda@gannett.com. If you have questions about something opening, closing or changing in the area, send me those, too, and I'll do my best to find an answer.

This Streetwise roundup features an update on a cat café coming to Stevens Point, a partnership between a local pet store and mobile veterinary clinic, expanded dinner hours for a downtown vegan restaurant and a local distillery's gold medal-winning vodka.

Starry Night Cat Café starts construction

Construction has started at Starry Night Cat Café in Stevens Point.

Starry Night Cat Café will open as a coffeehouse and café inside The Whiting Place at 1400 Strongs Ave. The café will be open in the afternoon and late night hours, filling the gaps when local coffee shops are typically closed.

In August, owner Lexi Peterson told the Stevens Point Journal the business will feature a separate enclosed space where guests can play with foster cats that will be available for adoption through the Humane Society of Portage County. The coffeehouse itself will be a cat-free zone.

Peterson said the café will announce an opening date in the next few weeks. For more information, find Starry Night Cat Café on Facebook.

BowWow Meow partners with mobile vet

BowWow Meow Boutique in Stevens Point recently announced a new partnership with Rolling Paws Pet Care, a mobile pet clinic that serves small animals in central Wisconsin.

The local boutique pet store announced on its Facebook page that it will host the mobile veterinary service at the boutique the second Wednesday of the month starting April 10.

According to the Rolling Paws Pet Care website, Dr. Sandra Pumper and Garrett Frodl opened the mobile clinic in the spring of 2023. The service provides health care for cats and dogs directly at homes and offers general wellness care like physical exams, vaccinations and preventative care. The clinic offers general wellness recommendations for pets, as well. The clinic also provides non-emergency sick exams for a variety of conditions in dogs and cats. Pets are treated in the clinic's RV with their owners present.

Rolling Paws Pet Care serves the area within a 30-mile radius of Wausau. For more information, visit rollingpawspetcare.com or find Rolling Paws Pet Care LLC on Facebook.

Wicked Willow extends dinner hours

Wicked Willow announced earlier this month it has extended its hours to offer dinner five nights a week.

The vegan restaurant is now open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at 1137 Main St. in Stevens Point.

Fern Neumann and Matt Carter reopened the all-vegan restaurant last August after the restaurant closed in May. Neumann said they were previously on the fence about purchasing the restaurant, but when they saw the outpouring of community support along with a clear demand for vegan options in the central Wisconsin area, they decided to take the leap and reopen Wicked Willow.

Wicked Willow first brought dinner to the restaurant's open hours in October, offering later hours on Fridays and Saturdays.

For more information, visit wickedwillowstevenspoint.com or find Wicked Willow Stevens Point on Facebook.

Knowlton House Distillery wins tasting competition

Knowlton House Distillery just opened in August and has already won a gold medal from the American Craft Spirits Association's tasting competition held in Denver, according to a release from the business.

Heather Mullins, the co-founder and head distiller at Knowlton House Distillery, said the distillery entered the competition to get feedback and opinions from experts as a new distillery.

"When they called TenHead vodka as a gold medal winner, we were stunned," she said. "We felt we were crafting something special, but to have a panel of experts agree was very validating."

Knowlton House Distillery's flagship product line, TenHead, includes vodka and gin products made from pure milk sugar, a byproduct of making cheese. It's on brand for the distillery's founders, as Luke Mullins brings expertise as a fourth-generation cheesemaker and Heather Mullins has a background in brewing and distillation. Distilling vodka from milk sugar is uncommon, but Heather Mullins said that's what makes their vodka and gin exceptionally smooth.

The American Craft Spirits Association competition is judged by a panel of experts from all over the country. Spirits are evaluated in a variety of categories, and medals are awarded based on the merits of the individual spirit.

TenHead Spirits are only available at Knowlton House Distillery, but the company plans to start statewide distribution in April. TenHead is expected to be available in local liquor stores, restaurants and bars this summer.

For more information, visit knowltonhouse.com or find Knowlton House Distillery on Facebook.

More local business news: DigiCOPY transitions to employee-owned company

More local business news: The Stevens Point Fire Department held live fire training on Hoover Road in December. What's next for the property?

Contact Caitlin at cshuda@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @CaitlinShuda.

This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Stevens Point Streetwise: Cat cafe, BowWow Meow, mobile vet, Wicked Willow