Store Sidekicks: The Cat Of Essex Optical Past

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This is Store Sidekicks, an end-of-the-week feature where we profile the fuzzy wuzzy creatures that inhabit shops across the city. If you'd like to nominate your favorite store animal, drop us a line at tips@racked.com.

At the end of June, those walking past the Essex Optical space were not treated to their usual glimpse of Jolie the cat in the window. Instead the space had flipped from a classy glasses retailer into the temporary Alife/ARC clearance sale outlet.

Like our profile of Monty at Yoko Devereaux, this is a cat displaced by the recession. These days, Jolie (as in Angelina Jolie) hangs out in the office in the back of the space and occasionally treks to the front windows, now that Alife's sale has departed, to soak in the sun's summer rays.

Apparently she's been hanging out at this Lower East Side address for years, since a tipster nominated her and included that she'd been their office pet back in the days when an architectural firm occupied the space.

And there you have it; a cat's residency has outlived two companies at this location. Now you know why occasionally you can catch people tapping on the glass at this (seemingly) lonely storefront.
· Store Sidekicks: Monty At Yoko Devereaux [Racked]
· All Store Sidekicks Stories [Racked]