City Mechanics' Beloved Ancient Kitty Mascot Dies

Shops the cat, a fixture at the city's Central Shops mechanical yard, is no more

​Not that long ago, SF Weekly wrote a piece about the uncontested queen of the city's Central Shops mechanics' yard -- a 19-year-old cat named Shops. In a unique arrangement, the cat was adopted by the repair yard -- making her a city-owned animal -- and, ever since 1990, she roamed Central Shops' office and served as its mascot, figurehead, and recipient of countless gifts from city workers.

Sadly, the news we received from 1800 Jerrold Avenue this week is not good -- Shops the cat has died. Her rapidly worsening health late last month forced city workers to make the decision they knew was long coming.

"She's running out of gas," Central Shops' operation manager, Dave Del Grande, told SF Weekly back in October. It was a sadly apt double-entendre for the mechanic to make. The departed feline monarch will have no successor -- a city operation adopting a cat from the SPCA was less complicated back in 1990; now people worry about allergies and liability and God knows what else.

"It was nice to always have a friendly face walking around here," said Michael Braun, the supervisor of the yard's fire shop charged with maintaining fire department vehicles. "We can fix just about anything here. But this one we couldn't do."

Dave Del Grande and Shops

​