Lowe’s beloved feline mainstay, Francine, has gone missing. It’s been over two weeks since surveillance footage showed her boarding a truck headed for a Garysburg, North Carolina Lowe’s facility.
The disappearance of RVA’s Most Unlikely Icon, as recognized in Style Weekly’s 2024 Best of Richmond issue, has sparked a viral search spearheaded by Elise Gilmore and Chas Nabi, who started the Where’s Francine? Instagram page that’s attracted 10,000 followers to date, prompting the tagging of Taylor Swift and gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger among other notables. It’s also been reported that members of legendary local heavy metal band, Gwar, are lending a hand as well; and a robust morning show discussion occurred on “Elliot in the Morning”: “Do people actually go to Lowes to visit this cat?” asked the morning show host. Yes, yes they do.
Known for her casual hangs in the Lowe’s garden center atop bags of seed or the latest patio furniture, Francine welcomed all who wanted pets and photo ops. She’s been a staple at the 1640 W. Broad St. store location since 2017, after casually setting up shop and making herself at home and earning her keep by catching mice. She had her own food bowl and was taken care of by Lowe’s staff. By all accounts, she’s an RVA darling.
Style caught up with Gilmore and Nabi on their way back from North Carolina to get the latest. Nabi found out from a Lowe’s employee that Francine hadn’t been seen for a minute while stopping in for a few wares. “I would take my dog Bowie into the store and she’d swat at him,” he says, laughing.
The employee said they think she ran off, he says, adding that employees were told to keep it on the down low. Gilmore checked where her food bowl usually was, and it was gone. “That told me she’s not just coming back tomorrow,” she says. “She’s gone. Something had happened.” That’s what kicked the duo into high gear for a recovery mission.
They posted to the RVA subreddit, where Francine is praised on the regular; that’s where things kicked up. One of the employees came out as a bit of a whistleblower and spilled the beans: Francine was officially missing. Posters were printed, an Insta account created, and a boots-on-the-ground investigation began at the West Broad location. With a full tank ready to roll down South, the mission was activated.
The powerhouse pair had a brief meeting with a shift manager at the Garysburg distribution center and he reported he’d not even heard of Francine, despite reports that the Richmond Lowe’s had notified the facility of the situation.
“News obviously didn’t travel well around the facility if the shift manager hadn’t heard about it. But, he did say he’d bring it up in the morning meeting and to escalate to the site GM,” says Gilmore.
In partnership with the Richmond SPCA, the pair ventured down for a trapping effort that was denied by Lowe’s corporate for liability and safety reasons. The company did commit to contacting local animal control for assistance. “We were able to connect with the officer, show him pictures, and give him her blanket that she’s familiar with,” says Gilmore. “He said he’d be setting three to four traps and checking them frequently with updates provided,” she adds.
“She’s not just a cat. She’s an enigma.”
It’s believed that Francine is still in the vicinity of the distro center, as some employees have reported a cat traipsing about. Thanks to SOS Cats RVA, an all-volunteer trap, neuter, and return nonprofit, a $2,000 reward is now associated with the effort. Organizers are urging folks not to contact Lowe’s locations directly or attempt to fly drones or trespass on the property in North Carolina; but asking corporate for more transparency, awareness and further sharing on socials is thumbs up. Spreading the word is the deal to get our gal back home. Anyone with information should DM the Instagram page or call 804-495-1076.
“She’s not just a cat. She’s an enigma. I knew RVA would lose their shit when they found out she was missing,” says Gilmore. “She’s the glue that holds Richmond together.”
