While most retail operations have the bottom line in mind when they are doing business, at House of Mews the staff has different goals.
     A non-profit business formed in February 1994, the company started out on the premises of Goodwin Plantation greenhouse.  It was there Elain Harvey discovered a kitty conglomeration that needed her help.
    Since that time, House of Mews has adopted more than 2,300 cats, which might have otherwise faced starvation or worse.
    At House of Mews, 944 S. Cooper Ave., where the operation moved in October 1995, about 40 cats roam the premises and more than 60 others are caged, waiting for someone willing to open their hearts to the felines.
     "We try not to keep them in a cage for more than two or three months without pairing them," she said.
     Cats have been brought to the store battered, burned -- even dipped in oil -- and she and a team of volunteers work to turn life around for the creatures.
     "We're here for the animals.  We're not here to make money," she said.
     When cats or kittens are taken in by the organization, they are quarantined in a private kennel while they undergo a health screening, which included screening for feline AIDS and leukemia, and spaying or neutering.
     After that, if possible, cats and kittens are paired in small cages and graduate to larger, communal cages with groups of other cats.
     The cats that have been there the longest are allowed to roam the store, the last stop before adoption.
     Cats stay until they are adopted, although sometimes, it's the volunteers who do the adopting themselves.
     "We don't euthanize animals," Harvey said.
     Harvey said she has 10 cats at home herself, down from her all-time high of 17.
     The company also occasionally gets pure breed cats, like a black Persian cat who's awaiting a new home, but most of the cats are mixed breed, she said.
     House of Mews is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and is closed Monday through Thursday.
    After all, Harvey has a "real" job as secretary to the administrator of the Shelby County Code Enforcement office.
     Just because the shop is closed doesn't mean the work stops behind the scenes.
     Harvey said volunteers come in day and night to clean up, feed and water, and coo to the kitties.
     Many of the animals require medication twice daily, another job performed by dedicated volunteers.
     The organization's $60,000 annual budget comes from adoption fees, which start at $70, and from sales of items in the cat lover's gift shop.
     House of Mews partners with PetCo, which supplies much of the food for the animals and Walnut Grove Animal Hospital, which donates veterinary services.
     Those interested in adopting a cat must fill out an application and be approved, unlike a pet store where anyone can leave with an animal.
     House of Mews also is the exclusive distributor for Sneeze No More, an anti-allergen product that recently passed a local television station's "Does It Work?" test.
     "It's a product that keeps people from turning their cats in when they're allergic (to them).  It's very inexpensive and it lasts six to eight weeks.  You spray the area where the cat lives.  You don't take medication yourself and you don't spray the cat," Harvey said.
     "It works quite effectively on the dander that's in the air," she said.
     For more information about the House of mews, check out the Web site at www.houseofmews.com.