After the storm

One year after Hurricane Katrina carved a swath of destruction across New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast, its survivors continue to piece together their lives both personal and professional. In the areas affected, squabbles continue over how to repair the damage, who should pay for it, and how to move forward so that it never happens again. And the region's toy store owners are no exception.

For some, problems persist nearly 12 months after their stores were either flooded, looted, or in many cases, both—insurance money that still hasn't come, or repairs and replacements still undone in a region where finding an available (and affordable) construction crew in an area with an overwhelming need for such services is challenging at best.

“I'm still waiting for my business interruption insurance,” says Betsy Mouk, owner of The Magic Box on New Orleans' Magazine Street. “And just yesterday we received ceiling tiles from my landlord, so we're dealing with slow progress for everything.”

“Workers are hard to come by at a reasonable price—both construction workers and sales help,” adds Buddy Woods, owner of Le Jouet in Metairie, La. “After the storm, you'd find a construction worker and then he'd need to wait a month for someone else to be available to help him do something.”

Finding employees—not to mention customers—in an area where there's suddenly a fraction of the former population may just be the biggest challenge of all, says Mark Greenbaum, owner of Learning Express of Metairie.

“Some of my staff were able to return, some never came back,” Greenbaum says. “There are a lot of people who are still just starting to move back, and we're hoping they're going to continue to come back as the town begins to open up. Every business in town has suffered because of it. I'm hoping when the colleges start up again, it'll get easier; I depend on college kids for a lot for my staffing. A lot of the people I do have [on staff] are pretty worn out—including me.”

Despite the challenges to getting back up and running, all three retailers report that business was surprisingly strong during the holiday season that started just two months after the storm, and as of last month, all were actually ahead of where they were year-to-date in 2005.

“We had a good bit of damage and were closed for two months,” says Mouk. “When we reopened in the first part of November, it was lousy, but since then each month has been better than last year. We're about 22 percent ahead of last year—last year wasn't a great year even before the storm—but after the hurricane, I'll take what I can get.”

At Mark Greenbaum's Learning Express, sales were up 35 percent year-to-date in July, which is only his second summer in business. “I do expect to have an even stronger holiday season this year.”

“[Business] has been good,” adds Le Jouet's Wood. “But I go day to day wondering if it's going to stay that way.” Sales are up 15 percent at Le Jouet, which Wood has operated since 1968. “That's good for me in 'good' years—I'm not used to increases, with the type of business we're in and people's price consciousness. We've been here a long time so I shouldn't complain, but this is a strange way to get growth.”

All admit that some of that growth has come at the expense of competition that's no longer around. Another factor, the retailers say, is that the storm has stirred up a desire in people who otherwise wouldn't shop in their neighborhoods to seek these stores out just because they've survived.

The strongest driver of all, though, might just be that through toys parents feel they're helping their kids' lives get back to normal. “People have been replacing the toys they lost,” says Mouk, “especially at Christmas when they were buying more than they normally would to compensate for the trauma their kids went through.

“We've also gotten a lot of people who stop in because there's not much else open. A gentleman came in just the other day and spent $300. In a few months we'll send him a $10 gift card and say 'We're really glad you came in and shopped with us when we really needed it.' We'll be doing a lot of that.”