Cats are important employees. From bodega cats to brewery cats, feline pals assist enterprise house owners hold rodents at bay and entice new prospects. However a Dwelling Depot cat named Leo is placing a New Jersey location of the house enchancment retailer chain on the map — and constructing a social media following within the course of.
Dwelling Depot cat garners TikTok fame
Leo the cat is the feline-in-residence on the Dwelling Depot retailer in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. He was a barn cat earlier than arriving on the retailer final summer season. Buyer Jeffrey Simpkins, who goes by @cat_dad_2020 on TikTok, movies the furry good friend throughout his buying journeys.
“He has two identify tags that say ‘Good day my identify is Leo,’ after which the opposite one says like ‘Mount Laurel Retailer,’ so he’s registered to the shop,” Simpkins informed ABC 7 Chicago.
Simpkins is a cat dad himself. In truth, he usually outlets together with his two feline pals, Will and Grace. When he began documenting Leo on TikTok, his social media star started rising. Simpkins estimates that the entire Leo movies on his TikTok account have roughly 50 million views.
Simpkins attributes the Dwelling Depot cat’s recognition to “his distinctive character, like he’s pleasant, he wears clothes not like different cats, and he has a number of locations he sleeps at.”
Cat lovers inspired to do extra than simply ‘like’ Leo
Leo’s followers admire the feline’s outgoing vibe.
“I’m an enormous cat particular person, and I like cats so I’m actually excited to see him. It’s my first time seeing him in particular person, and I actually love that he wears shirts,” Theo Lythberg of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, informed ABC 7 Chicago.
“It’s the final week of summer season, so we figured let’s go see the cat and benefit from it and see if we may be a part of his fan membership,” Michelle Lythberg added.
They’re not the one ones fawning over Leo. Dwelling Depot workers take turns caring for the cat, feeding him and taking him to the vet.
However Simpkins isn’t simply filming Leo the Cat for social media clout. His hope is that cat lovers will donate to animal shelters within the space – and even higher, undertake a cat of their very own.
