Meet the shop cats of Mass. Street, who charm Lawrence with merch & personality
The shopkeeper’s bell rings, and a stroller wheels through the doorway. Most people in the store barely glance up, but someone does.
From across the aisle, a fuzzy orange figure rises with purpose, his tail, with its signature kink, ticks back and forth. He trots toward the stroller as if it’s an old friend, not bothering with an “excuse me” or even a pause. With a single confident spring, he climbs into the undercarriage and settles in like a king returning to his throne. By the time the stroller has made a few laps around the shop, he’s fast asleep, rocking gently as if he arranged the ride himself.
This is Dave, Wonder Fair’s beloved shop cat of seven years, accidental hitchhiker, serial stroller-napper and unapologetic ruler of his tiny world on Massachusetts Street in Lawrence. Dave spends his days charming customers, snoozing on a pie-shaped display by the window, or wandering wherever he pleases in the cozy stationery shop he calls home.
Dave is one of several shop cats that live and meander through businesses in downtown Lawrence, entertaining and soothing customers.
When he’s not charming customers at Wonder Fair, Dave often seeks a quieter spot at the nearby shoe store, Fleet Feet. Staff there is like his “other family.”
“Sometimes if it gets too busy at Wonder Fair, Dave gets a little agitated, so he’ll stand at the door and ask us to escort him to Fleet Feet,” said Amanda Barker, a Wonder Fair associate. There, he might nap by the window or curl up in a shoebox before being escorted back.
On other days, Dave retreats to his own little box by the front register at Wonder Fair. A sign taped to an air humidifier reminds visitors, “Please don’t pet me when I’m in the box,” while the box itself is marked on one side, “Dave Zone: Please Do Not Pet Me,” and on the other, “The Cat Is Out… (of Social Battery).”
Dave’s fame doesn’t stop at neighborhood notoriety. He even has his own calendar (all proceeds from which benefit the Lawrence Humane Society, where he was adopted) along with T-shirts, stickers, and a whole wall dedicated to him filled with customer drawings, paintings, and crafts.
“He’s an important part of the town, so many people swing by just to say hi to Dave,” Barker said. “He goes wherever he wants. We love that he’s a responsible, respectful fellow.”
Shoppers who know him describe Dave as a very sweet kitty with soulful eyes.
“He’s always ready to interact with people and make people feel welcome at Wonder Fair, but he can also be a little bit of a spicy kitty,” said a customer. “But it’s good because he speaks his mind. He was raised right, to speak what he believes.”
While Dave draws attention, the street has its share of other feline characters.
The cats of downtown Lawrence
Across the street at Love Garden Sounds, a record store, Chardonnay holds court as the self-proclaimed “Queen of Love Garden,” according to co-owner Kelly Corcoran. Blue-eyed and glamorous, she loves sunbathing by the window in a tiny box, batting around her favorite eight-ball hacky sack, or retreating upstairs for a nap once she’s had enough of the hustle and bustle below.
A diva through-and-through, Chardonnay refuses to share her kingdom with any other cat. She’s been ruling the record store solo for nine years, and she has no plans to retire from the throne.
A few doors down, on the opposite side of the street, two besties run the show at The Raven Book Store: Sam and Dean, who yes, are named after the “Supernatural” characters. They came to the store a year ago after their original adopter could no longer keep them and have since made themselves at home.
Dean, a long-haired tabby, spends his time people-watching from the back door, lounging atop boxes in the office, or staking out an aisle. Sam, an orange tabby affectionately called “Sammy” by employees, prefers to curl up in a chair near the register.
“They’re great store cats. They love people. They love to play, and they love to be petted,” said Nancy Sims-West, a bookseller.
And over at The Dusty Bookshelf, there was Dinah, who reigned as the grand dame of Lawrence’s literary cats. For ten years, she was a fixture, named after Alice’s cat in “Alice in Wonderland” as a nod to the shop’s previous feline, Alice.
Dinah died last week, days after The Star visited the shop.
“She knows she’s the main event,” said manager Shelby Wilson. “Everyone loves to tell her how pretty she is, and she loves to hear it. She can be a little grumpy old lady sometimes, but everyone knows to give her space.”
Dinah’s face adorns stickers, shirts, and pins. She wasn’t just a shop cat — she’s a mascot, according to Wilson.
Plus a cat cafe, too
If that weren’t enough cat energy for one street, just a few minutes south sits Espurresso Cat Cafe, home to many temporary residents looking for forever homes and one full-time gal named Syd. The gray, long-haired, yellow-eyed majestic shop cat gets along with everyone.
“She fit in so well,” said employee Ash Piver. “She’s great with other cats, great with kids, super chill but playful, and obviously beautiful. She’s been part of our little family for two years now.”
Whether you need a cuddly fix, a cat to ignore you judgmentally, or a diva to admire from afar, the shop cats on Massachusetts Street deliver. For longtime locals and visiting cat lovers alike, each store offers not just merchandise but a furry personality greeting you at the door or snoozing in your way.
But at the end of the day, the heart of the Mass Street cat community is still Dave, the orange gentleman back at Wonder Fair. Maybe he’s perched in the window, perhaps he’s overseeing customers from a cat bed shaped like a mailbox, or maybe, if you’re lucky, he’s curled up in your stroller, hitching a ride.
After all, Dave doesn’t just live on Mass Street.
He runs it, one nap at a time.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 9:15 AM.
