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Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Meet the bodega cats on viral TikTok series Shop Cats
Michelle Reiss, known online as Michelladonna, plays with Ashley the bodega cat at Rodriguez Grocery & Deli in New York. PHOTOS: JUTHARAT PINYODOONYACHET/NYTIMES NEW YORK – If you are in a deli or a bodega in New York City and need to speak with 'the manager', you may find her underneath the fridge or nestled between bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Bodegas, or small grocery shops, being managed by the cats that live in them is part of a 'big running joke among a lot of New Yorkers', said Drew Rosenthal, creative producer of Shop Cats, a web show that recently found a large audience on TikTok for its feel-good feline coverage. When Rosenthal, 35, moved to Brooklyn eight years ago, he was surprised by the ubiquity of semi-feral cats patrolling the city's bodegas and delis. Even more so by the scarcity of online bodega cat registries documenting their addresses and personal updates, given their beloved role in the city's ecosystem. Last summer, working for Mad Realities – a media company with ambitions of becoming 'the MTV of the internet', according to its chief executive and founder Alice Ma – Rosenthal addressed this gap in the kitty catalogue by pitching a bodega cat talk show he characterised as 'Cribs meets Steve Irwin'. It was greenlit almost immediately. The pilot of Shop Cats featured Rosenthal's local bodega cat in Crown Heights, a cuddly but capricious grey and white tabby named Kiki, who sleeps behind a display of corn chips. In the 1½-minute episode, Michelladonna, the flamboyant host of Shop Cats, interviews the whiskered bodega manager – who introduces herself by hissing into the microphone – and the locals who take care of her. The interview culminates in a test of Kiki's hunting skills via her ability (or desire, rather) to chase a feathered toy. The hunt was set to a zany, Looney Tunes-style soundtrack, a signature of the show. In developing Shop Cats, Rosenthal wanted to create a 'very New York' show, which meant he needed a New Yorker to host it. Michelladonna, nee Michelle Reiss, with her comedy background and irresistibly thick Queens accent, fit the bill. Reiss, 26, hosts the show with a familiar, early-aughts VJ energy, occasionally functioning as a cultural liaison between immigrant bodega owners and the Gen Z audiences meeting them on TikTok. 'I know how to talk their language, uncle to uncle,' she joked. The instantly chummy, New Yorker-to-New Yorker rapport Reiss establishes with bodega owners devolves into a cooing gush fest once the boss is brought up. 'Their faces change when they talk about their cats,' she said. 'It's my favourite thing to experience doing this show.' Shop patrons are similarly quick to fawn over their local working kitten. Simcoe, a courteous, long-whiskered tuxedo cat who runs a brewery in East Williamsburg, has inspired T-shirts and tattoos. 'Simcoe is the best,' Yoko, a brewery regular who wears homemade earrings featuring Simcoe's face, says in the episode. Reiss, too, tends to style herself in feline fashions, often sporting a long ponytail that shimmies behind her like a sassy cat tail. 'You've got to lean into that kitty fever,' she said. She also has a penchant for winged cat-eye liner. Michelle Reiss, known online as Michelladonna, conducts 'interviews' with the feline occupants of New York's delis and bodegas in the Show Cats series. PHOTO: JUTHARAT PINYODOONYACHET/NYTIMES Since the debut of Shop Cats in September 2024, the show has garnered more than 740,000 followers on TikTok. It also took home the prestigious Webby Award for social media in May. The award is the leading international awards for excellence on the internet. Unlike many places on the internet, the show's comment sections are consistently and overwhelmingly positive – an anomaly given TikTok's hot-and-cold user base – with several commenters claiming that Shop Cats is their 'preferred type of journalism'. Ashley the bodega cat at Rodriguez Grocery & Deli in New York on June 2. PHOTO: JUTHARAT PINYODOONYACHET/NYTIMES One comment claimed that the show's use of Spanish subtitles had the potential to 'heal America'. The comment has more than 28,000 likes. The decision to add Spanish subtitles came about when Reiss sent an unpublished episode to her mother, who lamented being unable to share Shop Cats with her Spanish-speaking friends. After getting Mad Realities' approval, Reiss translated and transcribed the first few episodes herself. It felt compatible with the show's format, given that it is de facto multilingual, with Reiss usually approaching bodega owners in Spanish. Many of the shop owners like to claim a cultural affinity with their cats. The adoptive caregivers of Rambo, a scrappy brown tomcat from the Bronx, for example, like to claim that he is Yemeni on his father's side and Dominican on his mother's side. Charlie, the 15-year-old striped 'employee of the month' at Flowers by Giorgie in Queens, was lauded by his owner for being 'the best Ecuadorian cat in New York'. And on a recent sunny afternoon in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the Shop Cats team had the pleasure of meeting Jamal – a puckish tabby whose name means 'beauty' in Arabic. Jamal was the team's fourth attempted interview of the day – some of the cats are unwilling to participate, which can create challenges for the three-person crew. However, Mr Ali Mohammed, Jamal's owner, was tickled by the concept of his cat being interviewed, as were his store's patrons and staff. At one point in the shoot, eight people – including two store employees, four giggly children under the age of nine, their father and a food supplier who had stopped by for a routine snack delivery, but stayed for the show – were recording Reiss as she interviewed Jamal and Mr Mohammed. 'They either want us out of their store immediately or they're so excited, they're FaceTiming their families back home,' Reiss said. It should be noted that throughout the entire interaction, including while he was being interviewed on camera, Mr Mohammed was on a video call with his daughter, a veterinarian in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As filming was about to wrap, Mr Mohammed's nephew walked into the store and made a beeline for Jamal. 'This is my girlfriend,' he deadpanned. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Frito-Lay closes plant in Rancho Cucamonga
More than five decades of snack food production came to an end this week when Frito-Lay closed manufacturing operations at its Rancho Cucamonga facility, eliminating hundreds of jobs in the process. The plant has been a major employer in the area since opening in 1970, staffing thousands over its 55-year run. The facility also gained cultural significance as the birthplace of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, which were introduced in 1991, though the origin story has been the subject of litigation. Frito-Lay is owned by parent company PepsiCo Foods U.S., which confirmed the shutdown of manufacturing operations at the site. 'We are truly grateful for all the support over the last five decades from our Rancho Cucamonga manufacturing team as well as the local community,' the company said in a statement Monday. 'We are committed to supporting those impacted through this transition and we are offering pay and benefits to impacted employees.' The company did not specify how many employees were affected. Former workers posted on social media that they were given 10 weeks of severance pay. The abrupt nature of the closure left employees scrambling to figure out their next steps. 'I was supposed to get married this year, now I have to find a new job or at least figure a way to survive,' one laid-off worker said on Reddit. The Employment Development Department confirmed that Frito-Lay had not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, with the state, which typically requires employers to give 60 days advance notice of mass layoffs. The Rancho Cucamonga closure is part of a broader pattern of PepsiCo facility shutdowns. Earlier this year, the company announced the closure of a Frito-Lay plant in Liberty, N.Y., laying off 287 workers, and cut 56 jobs at a warehouse in Maryland. The closures come as PepsiCo faces declining snack sales. In its most recent earnings call, chief executive Ramon Laguarta said the company was 'right-sizing the cost' of its snacks division after Frito-Lay sales volume dropped slightly in the first quarter. Warehouse, distribution, fleet and transportation services will continue to operate out of the facility. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
11-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Frito-Lay closes plant in Rancho Cucamonga
More than five decades of snack food production came to an end this week when Frito-Lay closed manufacturing operations at its Rancho Cucamonga facility, eliminating hundreds of jobs in the process. The plant has been a major employer in the area since opening in 1970, staffing thousands over its 55-year run. The facility also gained cultural significance as the birthplace of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, which were introduced in 1991, though the origin story has been the subject of litigation. Frito-Lay is owned by parent company PepsiCo Foods U.S., which confirmed the shutdown of manufacturing operations at the site. 'We are truly grateful for all the support over the last five decades from our Rancho Cucamonga manufacturing team as well as the local community,' the company said in a statement Monday. 'We are committed to supporting those impacted through this transition and we are offering pay and benefits to impacted employees.' The company did not specify how many employees were affected. Former workers posted on social media that they were given 10 weeks of severance pay. The abrupt nature of the closure left employees scrambling to figure out their next steps. 'I was supposed to get married this year, now I have to find a new job or at least figure a way to survive,' one laid-off worker said on Reddit. The Employment Development Department confirmed that Frito-Lay had not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, with the state, which typically requires employers to give 60 days advance notice of mass layoffs. The Rancho Cucamonga closure is part of a broader pattern of PepsiCo facility shutdowns. Earlier this year, the company announced the closure of a Frito-Lay plant in Liberty, N.Y., laying off 287 workers, and cut 56 jobs at a warehouse in Maryland. The closures come as PepsiCo faces declining snack sales. In its most recent earnings call, chief executive Ramon Laguarta said the company was 'right-sizing the cost' of its snacks division after Frito-Lay sales volume dropped slightly in the first quarter. Warehouse, distribution, fleet and transportation services will continue to operate out of the facility.
Indianapolis Star
11-06-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga shutting down manufacturing operations
A Frito-Lay plant in Southern California is shuttering manufacturing operations after five decades, potentially affecting hundreds of jobs. A statement from PepsiCo Foods U.S., emailed to USA TODAY on June 11, confirmed the "shutdown of manufacturing operations" at Frito-Lay's Rancho Cucamonga site. Although the plant will cease manufacturing operations, its warehouse, distribution, fleet and transportation teams will continue to operate at this location, according to the food, beverage and snack corporation. "We are truly grateful for all the support over the last five decades from our Rancho Cucamonga manufacturing team as well as the local community," PepsiCo Foods U.S.'s statement reads. "We are committed to supporting those impacted through this transition and we are offering pay and benefits to impacted employees." According to Frito-Lay, it has "more than 30 highly advanced manufacturing plants across the country." Is a pricey AI fridge worth it? One woman's rant about hers is going viral. PepsiCo did not disclose how many employees would be affected by the shutdown of the manufacturing plant. It is also unclear when the possible layoffs will occur, as the PepsiCo facility is not in California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) database as of June 11. The WARN Act requires employers to give 60 days' notice before a mass layoff, plant closure or relocation. Employees at the plant told KTLA that they were let go, with some not being allowed to transfer to different departments to possibly keep their jobs. The Frito-Lay Rancho Cucamonga facility also once employed Richard Montañez, an American businessman who took credit for inventing Flamin' Hot Cheetos, although the snack brand and PepsiCo have disputed his claims.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Frito-Lay lays off manufacturing staff at Southern California facility after 5 decades
A Frito-Lay manufacturing plant in Rancho Cucamonga has stopped production after more than 50 years in operation, and potentially hundreds of workers are now looking for new jobs. On Monday, a spokesperson for PepsiCo Foods U.S., the parent company of Frito-Lay, confirmed that manufacturing operations at the Rancho Cucamonga facility have ended. 'We are truly grateful for all the support over the last five decades from our Rancho Cucamonga manufacturing team as well as the local community,' a statement reads in part. The company says it is 'committed to supporting those impacted,' and will be providing severance pay to affected employees. While manufacturing at the plant has ceased and other administrative roles were eliminated, the company says warehouse, distribution and fleet and transportation teams will continue to operate out of the facility. Several employees who contacted KTLA said hundreds of workers were let go, many of whom were not given the opportunity to transfer to different departments to keep their jobs. A company spokesperson would not confirm the total number of affected employees, and details about particular severance packages was not disclosed. The Rancho Cucamonga Frito-Lay plant has been a staple of the city for more than five decades, and employed thousands over the years. It is also the facility that once employed Richard Montañez, who claims to have invented the brand's beloved Flamin' Hot Cheetos — although the company disputes that claim. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
