Goats on store roof draw customers and tourists to Greater Napanee

Goats on the roof Napanee-area store has some popular attractions on the roof. CTV's Kimberley Johnson reports.

If you're ever on the drive from Kingston to Prince Edward County, you may want to pop into a store that’s grabbing some attention.

That’s because it has goats that stand on the roof of the building.

The store is called Loyalist Trading Company, and it can be found in Conway, Ont., on Highway 33 in Greater Napanee.

The two goats—Lenny and Grover—have been living and eating on top of the building for five years now. They access the roof from a ramp up from the ground where their barn is.

For the past five years they’ve been greeting and delighting customers traveling down the waterfront road.

On Wednesday, it was a surprising discovery from LeeAnn Vertolli, who was on the road from Toronto.

“That is amazing,” she says of seeing the goats. “It’s unbelievable, it’s awesome.”

Owner Sandy Cook makes and sells her own line of products in the store, as well as a range of Canadian-made goods. She says more than 40 years ago she saw a shop with goats on the roof in the United States, and dreamed about doing it here ever since.

After the store came up for sale five years ago, she says her family jumped at the chance.

“My husband looked at me, and he said ‘Honey, we’re running out of time. Are we going to put goats on the roof?’ And I said ‘Well, looks like we’re buying a country store,” she laughs.

On the visit, you can feed the goats, using a pulley system the Cooks have made, by buying food they provide.

The goats are free to roam, but if you come by Cook says Lenny and Grover aren’t shy.

“If they see someone coming into the parking lot, because I guess it’s the thing to do,” she says. “That’s their job.”

Dawna Gauthier is a local resident and says the store has been important for the small community of Conway.

“It draws a lot of tourism especially in the summer time,” explains Gauthier.

The goats at 8682 Loyalist Parkway will be able to be on the roof until the weather gets bad, after which they’ll exclusively stay on the ground near their barn.

But people are encouraged to come by anytime to hand feed them.