Customers at Aubuchon Hardware at 137 Marion Road may notice a fuzzy friend prowling along the aisles.

Louie the store cat may not be able to help customers find supplies for their next home project, but that doesn’t mean he is any less of a hard worker. 

Manager Tim Cooney said that the store adopted 6-year-old Louie from the Scituate Animal Shelter in 2022.

“There are a bunch of [Aubuchon] stores that have cats,” Cooney said.

According to the Aubuchon website, store locations can adopt a store cat from a local shelter as part of their pet-friendly environment.

Along with greeting customers, Louie works double time as the live-in exterminator. 

“We had an issue with mice,” said Cooney. “We had an infested bag of bird seed. It was really bad.”

According to Cooney, Louie takes his role seriously. 

“When he first came in here, he was all business,” he said. “He’s proved his worth.”

Despite his protective demeanor, Louie is friendly toward visitors... mostly.

“He follows us around and he’s good with customers,” Cooney said. “He did attack one dog, and that dog will not come in.”

When Louie isn’t sitting at the register to greet customers, or on the shoulders of an Aubuchon employee, he can be found stalking mice in his favorite spot, up on the tall shelves behind the charcoal.

“When we originally got him on the paperwork they called him ‘Scar’ like in ‘The Lion King,’” Cooney said. “He likes to just sit up tall and look.”

Louie is often noticed for his hard work.

“There are people that come in here just to see Louie,” Cooney said.