When WWL Louisiana came to Magazine Street last week to ask what's happening to the city's most famous shopping corridor, they stopped by to talk with Kevin. The story, reported by Lily Cummings, aired Friday, June 5, and it covered news that hit close to home. Two longtime neighbors, the restaurant Coquette and the shoe boutique Feet First, both announced they're closing their doors this month.
Coquette is wrapping up a nearly 18-year run at Magazine and Washington, with its owners shifting focus to their other concept, Here Today. Feet First owner Rachel Patterson told WWL the decision was heartbreaking. Inflation, online competition, and last year's tariffs proved too much for the longtime mom-and-pop shop. "When the tariffs hit last year, it became almost the final nail in the coffin," she said.
And as independent shops step out, big national brands are moving in. Le Labo, Tecovas, and Hill House are all taking over spaces on the strip, part of a wave that the Magazine Street Merchants Association says is driving up rents for everyone else.
Kevin's take, from the patio at 3618 Magazine Street:
"It certainly seems like national brands want to come in for a short period of time, get the business that they can grab in the New Orleans market, and then they can sell their products to them online and roll out."
That's the part that worries us most. A national chain can treat a Magazine Street storefront like a billboard. It can open for a few years, capture the market, shift everyone to online ordering, and move on. A local shop can't do that, and wouldn't want to. We're here for the long haul, through the busy seasons and the slow New Orleans summers alike. So are the neighbors we love sharing this street with, folks like Susu Stall at Sosusu Boutique, who told WWL she just wants to "keep our street as soulful and local as possible."
CR Coffee has called Magazine Street home since 2015, in a building we renovated and care for because we plan to be in it for decades. We don't say any of this to knock the new arrivals, because every storefront deserves a tenant. But there's a difference between a street that's occupied and a street that's alive, and what makes Magazine Street famous is the soul that local owners pour into it.
So here's the ask, same as it's always been: shop small. Eat at the local spots. Buy your gifts from the boutique where the owner knows your name. Every dollar spent local helps keep this six-mile stretch the most interesting street in America, and it keeps more of our favorites from becoming an "ain't dere no more" memory.
Watch the full WWL Louisiana story to hear from the rest of the street.