Two of Ritters Garden & Gifts' most well-known employees are a mother and son.
Depending on the day, their duties vary: customer service, greenhouse chores, cashiering, greeting shoppers. However, despite their popularity with the North Spokane greenhouse and gift shop's staff and customers, they're probably its least productive employees.
In fact, on a recent early spring afternoon, both were sleeping on the job. Felix, the son, was curled up inside a cardboard box near the cash register, while mom Petunia snoozed on a table behind the customer service counter, her face tucked under her fluffy paws.
The two cats have been full-time residents of Ritters since mid-2019, when staff of the 75-year-old local business adopted the pair from Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services (SCRAPS).
Petunia, now about 6 years old, is petite and fluffy with ultra plush, butterscotch-colored fur accented with rich chocolate stripes. Felix, who was still a kitten when he joined the Ritters team and turns 5 this year, is a robust orange tabby with plump white jowls and a bubblegum pink nose.
"Our manager, Denise [Thompson], decided we were going to get a store cat," recalls Dalton Luke, who oversees Ritters' customer service and is one of the cats' primary caretakers. "We were initially going to get one, but Petunia was with her son and they were a pair, so we got them both."
The two have been living a luxurious life ever since. Behind a counter in the back of the store, plush bedding covers the entire table where Petunia snoozes. Cat toys, scratchers, covered litter boxes and a feeding station indicate it's an area where the cats spend a lot of time, at least during the colder months.
From spring to fall, however, Petunia and Felix prefer Ritters' lush greenhouses and nursery aisles. In this veritable cat paradise, they nap in the sun or tuck themselves between potted plants for shade.
"Petunia, especially when the weather's nicer, she's gone for a lot of the day," Luke says. "She'll come in and say hi to people and stuff, but otherwise she likes to explore."
Since Ritters fronts a busy, five-lane stretch of North Division Street, Luke says the felines aren't allowed past the front doors, though they can freely explore the nursery out back.
Having spent most of their nine lives at Ritters, the cats are well-socialized and friendly toward the many customers who seek them out. (Fans can also follow them on Instagram, @felixandpetunia)
"Petunia is a little more social than Felix — he can be a little hot and cold — but Petunia loves people. She's always ready to interact," Luke says. "A lot of times, we have a main register out there in the garden center, and she'll lay on a box on the counter because she knows everybody walks by and gives her pets. A couple weeks ago, there was a customer here who was just walking through the store with Petunia, holding her."
He says Petunia is also an adept hunter and has been known to patrol Ritters for unwelcome guests. Felix, meanwhile, prefers the catnip.
"We'll get catnip as part of our herbs every year, and he loves to go out there. We have pictures of him asleep in the catnip," Luke says.
After Ritters closes for the day, it's anyone's guess what the two are up to.
"They have the run of things, and Petunia likes to, what we call, go shopping," Luke says. "She'll take stuff off displays, or take rags and whatever and start moving them around. I'll come in the morning, and there'll just be stuff all over the floor that we have to put back."
These after-hours antics are but one example of the immense joy that Petunia and Felix bring to Ritters.
"You know, we just love them. They're a huge part of the store," Luke says. "It's so cool to see the customers come in and be like 'Oh, I'm looking for Petunia and Felix.' It's cool to see other people love them as much as we do." ♦
Editor's Note: From 2012 to 2016, I wrote the Inlander's "Cat Friday" blog. One of my favorite features was profiling local businesses' resident cats, but eventually "Inland Northwest Business Cats" was retired for lack of subjects. I've recently become aware of several more "working" cats in the community, so now it's back! If you work at or know of local businesses with resident kitties that we should write about, reach me at [email protected].
