I'm a New Orleanean. Most businesses in New Orleans pre-katrina were locally owned businesses. Not too many big boxes and national chains understand the culture down here to break in. We were probably the last major city in all of America to get a Wal-Mart. It was open about a year maybe before Katrina hit and it was the first casualty.
I still remember all of the pretzel acrobatics Starbucks went through to get into the New Orleans market a few years ago. And even then, their biggest growth was probably out in the burbs. We're pretty loyal to our PJ's, CC's and Rue coffe houses.
The businessman profiled in this article is one whose signs I recognized as a staple in renovations and new construction sites before Katrina. Just a fairly successful small businessman who fiercly loved his neighbors and his home like all new orleaneans tend to do.
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