Henry came to the Golden Pantry whenever he pleased. Sometimes he showed up in the early morning, and then disappeared in the afternoon.
But he wasn’t like most regular customers.
Henry was a rooster, who became part of the Lexington store’s daily routine and even its unofficial mascot.
Henry’s story, however, didn’t start there.
It started next door.
On a slow day last November, Zach Bates, who works for Tri-County Natural Gas, noticed a rooster making his way up to the shop.
Bates said Henry, what the rooster was later named, had fallen off a chicken truck, narrowly escaping what could’ve been his fate.
“He might have been heading to Chick-fil-A or something, but he fell off, and he made his way up to our shop,” Bates said.
What started as an unusual moment quickly turned into something more. Workers at Tri-County began looking after Henry. They bought a feeder and had water set out for him.
Before long, Henry expanded his territory and made his way over to the Golden Pantry.
Asaza Poole, who manages the store, said he would hang out in a grassy area in front of the store.
“It just became a thing with the customers, you know, they see the chicken there in the morning, they throw him a little bit of their biscuit,” Poole said.
Henry’s presence became familiar and ironic, she said.
“We sell a ton of chicken biscuits. That seems to be a lot of people's favorite,” Poole said. “So I think it was just kind of the irony of the chicken hanging around the store with us selling the chicken biscuit.”
For four months, Henry was a common sight among customers and employees.
He even garnered fame on Facebook, as customers shared their interactions with him.
Phaelon Caldwell, a Golden Pantry customer, said he was putting air in his tire one day when Henry came by to visit.
Caldwell first saw him out of the corner of his eye and assumed Henry was a small dog.
“I thought he was going to come at me, being a rooster, but it seemed he was more curious or just wanted a snack more than anything,” Caldwell said.
However, Henry’s story on Main Street was short-lived.
In March, it was reported that he was taken.
Although they would like for Henry to be returned, both Poole and Bates said they hope he is being taken care of and safe.
“I think the community kind of misses seeing him there every morning, every afternoon,” Poole said. “The kids, when they would get out of school, they would want to come by the Golden Pantry and stop in just so that they could see the chicken.”