Everybody knows Bailey.

YouâÂÂve probably seen her in local TV commercials for KringâÂÂs Interior Fashion Center, with store owner Brit KringâÂÂs arm slung around her as he talks about good deals on ceramic flooring.

BaileyâÂÂs a 2-year-old female Black Labrador Retriever that Kring got when she was 11 weeks old. Now sheâÂÂs a fixture in the store at 634 Mass.

SheâÂÂs there every day, even when Kring is out of town on vacation.

âÂÂSomebody from the store actually goes to BritâÂÂs home to pick her up and bring her to work. Yes, she commutes like the rest of us,â said design consultant Jana Flory.

The reason the friendly dog has become such a reliable presence in the store is that Ãi¿½” quite apart from the companionship she offers the staff Ãi¿½” KringâÂÂs customers love her.

âÂÂWe were just laughing about it,â Kring says. âÂÂThe last three people who walked through the door came in just to see Bailey. If I wouldâÂÂve known what it would be like to have a dog like her in the store, I wouldâÂÂve gotten one 20 years ago.âÂÂ

KringâÂÂs isnâÂÂt the only Lawrence store to have discovered the magic of having an animal in residence. Downtown businesses are crawling with a variety of four-legged Ãi¿½” and finned Ãi¿½” creatures.

The pets soothe the frayed nerves of employees and woo customers into the stores to have a look around.

Like Bailey, many of these animals develop quite a following of their own, increasing foot traffic in the stores and drawing in folks who just come to see their favorite pals.

Think of it as furry advertising.

Public face of store

It works, too. Nothing so creates a buzz around downtown stores as having an amiable creature for customers to interact with. Often the animals become nearly synonymous with the places they call home.

ThatâÂÂs definitely the case at Love Garden, a new-and-used music store at 936 1/2 Mass. The four cats who reside there Ãi¿½” Jack, Kandy, Lulu and Cayenne Ãi¿½” have become famous around town.

TheyâÂÂve appeared in Love GardenâÂÂs TV commercials, and their images adorn T-shirts, buttons and stickers available at the store. One T-shirt for sale bears a photo of Jack, a chunky, black-and-gray tabby. It reads, âÂÂLove Garden, Where Cool Cats Shop.âÂÂ

A pile of stickers near the cash register cleverly mimics the cover of an early Beatles album, with the heads of the cats where those of John, Paul, Ringo and George should be. âÂÂMeet The Cats! Love GardenâÂÂs Phenomenal Feline Foursome,â it says.

âÂÂTheyâÂÂre the face of the store. We want this to be a pleasant place to come to, and the cats help brighten it up,â says Kelly Corcoran, a clerk at Love Garden.

âÂÂTheyâÂÂre usually crabby, but occasionally sweet and sociable. They saunter around here. TheyâÂÂre sweet in the morning and when we give them food.âÂÂ

Betty Boop and Gorbachev

But not all downtown pets are warm-blooded.

Take, for instance, a quartet of aquatic creatures on display in a 50-gallon saltwater tank at The Sandbar, 117 E. Eighth St., a popular hangout for Kansas University students.

The tank, which is located behind the bar, contains: a Porcupine Puffer Fish; an elegant, spiky Lion Fish; a deep-blue Lunar Wrasse; and a Snowflake Moray Eel. The Puffer Fish is clearly the star.

âÂÂCustomers love him. Some people thinks he looks like Betty Boop or that the spot on his head makes him look like Gorbachev. One of our bartenders calls him âÂÂ’Frank in the Tank.â HeâÂÂs so ugly, heâÂÂs cute,â says Pat Mushrush, assistant manager.

David Johanning, manager, has also witnessed the fascination customers have for the Puffer Fish. âÂÂMan, people will sit there and watch it for hours,â he says.

Now the barâÂÂs management is talking about adding yet another attraction to the business: a shark tank. ThatâÂÂs not just pie-in-the-sky talk, either.

âÂÂItâÂÂs going to happen,â Johanning says.