Two Years After Katrina, Booksellers Say Business Is Good

Some two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the rebuilding continues -- and will for the foreseeable future. But several area booksellers who recently spoke to BTW said, despite significant infrastructure issues and other difficulties in their surrounding communities, business was good. They even talked of the future with a cautious sense of optimism.

"Everyday is a new challenge here, but it is also a time that we need to be involved in the reshaping of New Orleans' future," said Tom Lowenburg of Octavia Books, LLC, who reported that there were still miles of devastation in the city. "That's why it's exciting to be a bookseller, because we help shape ideas," he added.

Lowenburg's home and his store came through Katrina intact, except for some minor damage to the building housing the store. "The city continues to have all kinds of problems," he said. "There are infrastructure issues in the city. There are still people who haven't received compensation from losses."

The bookstore is "doing very well," said Lowenburg. "Customers continue to be strongly supportive of local business." Between 500 and 600 people showed up for Octavia's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release party in July, and just recently the seven-year-old Octavia was voted Best Local Bookstore in Gambit Weekly's Best of the Best voter poll. "We continue to be busier every year," said Lowenburg.

Pass Christian Books in Pass Christian, Mississippi, which was completely wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, opened a storefront in a temporary location about five miles north of the original store in December 2006. Presently, "it's going very well," said store co-owner Scott Naugle. "Our sales are at pre-storm levels, which surprises me every month."

As for rebuilding efforts in Pass Christian, "it depends whether the glass is half-full or half-empty," Naugle said. "With the enormity of the task, it's moving along. There's so much to do, there's a long way to go -- years, years. But there is progress," he said, noting that the city was currently reinstalling sewer lines.

The good news, said Naugle, is "we are getting closer to rebuilding [the bookstore] in downtown Pass Christian. I plan on closing on property ... in about two months and will rebuild down there."

"There have been ups and downs," said Donna Allen, owner of Maple Street Book Shop in New Orleans. Maple Street Books and Maple Street Children's, which are in Civil-War-era buildings, suffered no leaks or flooding as a result of Katrina, and staff returned to find the stores stocked just as they had been left. Both stores reopened in mid-October 2005.

"A lot of customers have returned, but there are a lot that aren't returning," said Allen. "The shop has been open since 1964, so we have a pretty [established] customer base. Many of those people have come back, but many professionals in their thirties moved out." Overall, she added, "things are looking up in this area. We're doing well business-wise."

Everyone has a Katrina story, Allen said, "and they're all awful. People are still working on their homes, and a lot haven't gotten back into their homes." The area lacks a sufficient number of medical professionals, she said, including mental health professionals. "The medical community has really been decimated," she explained. "There are definitely some major obstacles we have to overcome. It's getting a little bit better every day, but it's going to be a long time for things to be quasi-normal -- years and years and years."

"The city is still limping along," said Britton Trice of Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans. Two years ago, the neighborhood surrounding the store suffered little damage, and Garden District Book Shop was able to reopen on October 10, 2005. Today's sales are "equal, if not better" than prior to the hurricane, said Trice, but just 15 to 20 blocks away houses are empty and still damaged.

If one positive came out of the storm, he said, it's that today New Orleans residents are "more aware of [the importance] of shopping locally" and supporting locally owned businesses. Garden District has been hosting many events, including one at a local hotel this week, and a number of in-store book signings this fall. Trice predicted that as the city gets stronger, "we'll see more of the tourists come back to New Orleans." --David Grogan