Bodegas’ resident felines are symbolic of the relaxed environment that people appreciate about their local corner store. Could their bricks-and-mortar homes be put out of business by the latest tech startup? Won’t somebody think of the cats?

Two former Google employees’ proposal to replace corner shops with automated cabinets promoted an outpouring of scorn on social media last week, but in among the gags (“vending machines already exist”) and the slurs was a semi-serious concern: won’t somebody think of the cats?



Bodegas’ resident cats are symbolic of the personable, one-to-one service and relaxed environment that people appreciate about their local corner store – the kind of service and ambiance it’s hard to replicate in a pantry for non-perishables. The Bodega entrepreneurs’ choice of logo, a cat’s face, was perceived to be just as inappropriate as their chosen name.

Connections, community and cute-ass cats: in praise of real-life bodegas Read more

In a Medium post published after the backlash on Wednesday, Paul McDonald, the cofounder and CEO of Bodega, clarified that their aim was not to put brick-and-mortar stores out of business – but did admit they “didn’t fully understand what the reaction to the name would be”.

“When we first came up with the idea to call the company Bodega we recognised that there was a risk of it being interpreted as misappropriation. But it’s clear that we may not have been asking the right questions of the right people.

“Despite our best intentions and our admiration for traditional bodegas, we clearly hit a nerve this morning, we apologise. Rather than disrespect to traditional corner stores – or worse yet, a threat – we intended only admiration.”

@zzzbra @arinoana A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on Jun 17, 2017 at 3:18pm PDT

Bodega cats being symbolic of community, it is fitting that one has formed around them. Rob Hitt, a web developer and record label owner based in Brooklyn, has been collating snapshots of them @bodegacatsofinstagram. The account is followed by more than 110,000 users, with people submitting shots taken at their local convenience stores the world over.



Hitt started the account after getting a positive reaction to a few photos he’d posted on his personal Instagram.

“The corner store always felt like a little piece of home to me,” he says. “It’s where you could go to say hi to a familiar face, hear the neighbourhood gossip, or run into the neighbour cat.”



Many critics of the Bodega startup had pointed to Hitt’s account as evidence of what they held dear about their local corner store. There is “something intrinsically personal” about the exchange, he says.

@chinesewhiskers A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on Sep 11, 2017 at 5:11am PDT

“When we walk into our corner store we don’t just go to a store, we go to our corner store. It’s personal – you know the person working, they know your neighbourhood, in essence, it’s a part of you.

“The cat may belong to the store but when you walk in you feel it’s partly yours too.”

Socks, the resident cat at Fairfield Food Market in Cleveland, Ohio, was recently featured on Hitt’s account. Her photograph was submitted by Parker Warren, who had stopped into the store on Fairfield Ave about a month ago.

“She came right around the corner and started purring and rubbing against my shins.”

@parkerjoewarren A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on Aug 21, 2017 at 6:08am PDT

Warren says Socks is very friendly and well known in the neighbourhood for her many toes, caused by a genetic mutation called polydactylism. “She is a real crowd pleaser – the Pamela Anderson of cats. She knows what she has and flaunts it,” he says.

“I stop in for La Croix cans but mostly just to see her.”

People connect these cats with not just their local stores, but their entire neighbourhoods, says Hitt. When Takela the kitten was stolen from Kensington’s Moon Mini Mart last week, many New Yorkers felt rage “as if it were our own being stolen”.

“These little felines represent your community in addition to just the cute photo we see,” he says. “I think that’s the point that really gets to us when we see an organisation imply they’d want to drive a bodega out of business.”

Guardian Cities brings together the best in urban photography on Instagram at @guardiancities. Tag your best shots with #guardiancities and we’ll feature our favourites on the account.



@monikalidia A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on Sep 3, 2017 at 3:46pm PDT

@realvirtualgirl A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on May 18, 2017 at 4:32pm PDT

@amyjin7 A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on Jul 20, 2017 at 7:12am PDT

@frynaomifry A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on May 28, 2017 at 2:55pm PDT

@baults A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on Sep 5, 2017 at 3:15pm PDT

@plasticlunch A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on May 30, 2017 at 4:34am PDT

@kateklein A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on May 21, 2017 at 2:04pm PDT

@jessedavidfox A post shared by Bodega Cats (@bodegacatsofinstagram) on Sep 13, 2017 at 4:43am PDT

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