Three Bites and Little Cat team up with help from Columbus minority business initiative

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Two Columbus businesses -- a bakery and a coffee and bubble tea shop -- are partnering up for a Downtown location due to a city initiative promoting minority- and women-owned businesses.

Three Bites Bakery and Little Cat Boba will be under one roof at the former Jack and Benny's location at 12 E. Broad St. Three Bites will move out of its current location at 999 Mt. Vernon Ave. while Little Cat will continue to operate out of its East Market location in addition to the new space.

Isabella Bonello, owner of Three Bites, and Raymond Kim, owner of Little Cat, said the partnership was made possible because of the Downtown Ground Floor Growth Initiative -- a program passed by Columbus City Council in October to help small minority- and women-owned businesses locate Downtown.

"Thankfully, we were accepted into this Downtown program," Bonello said. "They really created an opportunity for some small businesses to maybe take the next step, or like for us we're definitely moving to a better location."

"We're first and foremost very thankful for the city for really taking the initiative," Kim said. "Besides the whole plan to bring in a higher population density into Downtown but also taking actual tangible steps, and their overall vision to make the city more inclusive and diverse."

Both businesses will bring their own flare to the location, but the owners said they couldn't pair together any better.

"Given the relationship between baked goods, coffee and boba, it's almost a marriage of sorts," Kim said.

At Three Bites, Bonello specializes in Filipino- and Italian-inspired baked goods. She also sells cakes, offers catering and more. She said she started the business out of her home in 2019, before ramping up operations after losing her job because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, she was able to move into a brick-and-mortar location of her own.

Kim said he started Little Cat because he always had an affinity for coffee. Due to his roots in the West Coast, where he said boba is popular, he also wanted to bring some of the area's "fantastic" bubble tea to Columbus. As for the name, Kim said he got it from a nickname his mother had given him as a child.

"When I was a little child, I had a penchant for snacks, which my mom would hide in high cupboards," Kim said. "I would just crawl over whatever appliance I could, and she likened that behavior to a stray cat, hence the name Little Cat."

While the two businesses will operate in the same spot, they will remain independent.

"We're keeping separate but meshing ourselves with each other," Bonello said.

Despite this, the duo will be able to do new things with both businesses. For Three Bites, Bonello said the new location would allow her to expand her cake program and add a breakfast menu. Meanwhile, Kim expressed his excitement to operate Little Cat out of a bigger space.

Bonello and Kim said there will be room for the two to collaborate, which could include an evening concept, tapas-style options and teaming up with other local businesses.

"I feel like the opportunities are kind of endless for what we can provide in the early evenings," Bonello said. "And we both know so many people in the industry, collaborations are a very real possibility."

The two said they hope the partnership between Three Bites and Little Cat will be open for business in early July.