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Office furniture store owner says her black cat is the boss

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Sam the cat relaxes on the showroom floor July 19, at Gibson Office Furniture in Middletown.

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Sheri Gibson holds her cat, Sam, inside Gibson Office Furniture in Middletown on July 19. Gibson calls the cat the chief executive of her company and says he hates to be told he is a cat, he would rather be called “CEO” or “boss.”

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Sheri Gibson holds her cat, Sam, inside Gibson Office Furniture in Middletown on July 19. Gibson calls the cat the chief executive of her company and says he hates to be told he is a cat, he would rather be called “CEO” or “boss.”

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer 2:38 AM Tuesday, July 27, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — Sheri Gibson may be the owner of Gibson Office Furniture in Middletown, but she knows who is the boss.

He might be four-legged and furry, but Gibson said when she brought her black cat, Sam, to live in the furniture store with her two years ago, she could tell right a way just who was in charge. That’s why when clients ask about him, she let’s them know Sam is not just a pet, but the CEO of the company.

“He’s in charge. He does not know what a cat is,” Gibson said. “You can go ‘kitty, kitty kitty,’ all day, but you have to call him Sam or ‘boss’ to get him to listen.”

Sam is polite enough to stay off the office furniture, but don’t even think about sitting on his leather stool in the kitchen area.

“That’s his executive chair,” she said.

Gibson, 61, said she has been more than happy to have Sam’s help. Due to the economy, she sold her home and lives full time in the store located at 1717 First Ave. With only a little bit of part-time help available to assemble furniture and do paperwork, most days the only one she is working with is Sam.

The stocky 11-year-old domestic short hair often stalks by the front door and greets customers when they come inside. He’ll meow to get Gibson’s attention if she is not around and help is needed.

“He comes back and checks on me when I’m assembling furniture,” said employee Floyd Scott. “And he makes sure someone is up and watching when customers come through the door.”

In turn for such a great boss, she has taught Sam how to help himself to a little plastic container of cat treats.

But without Sam, Gibson said it would be much harder to run the store with no other full-time help.

“He’s a conversation starter,” she said. “And you don’t realize how much help a little kitty can do until you see it.”

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