Port of Terrebonne Chugging Along
May 15, 2019
Marine Diesel Simulators Bring Technology to Future Students
May 15, 2019
Sisters Lauren Melancon and Vanessa Melancon Pierce have worked together their whole lives — a team of go-getters always striving to do more to help the local community.
“We’ve always built stuff,” Lauren said. “That’s just what we do.”
“We are both very passionate about the success of our community,” Vanessa added.
So one day last year, the sisters met for a little chat and the idea came out, ‘Hey, why don’t we just buy the Kief Hardware building?’
The idea being that the local shipbuilding industry was struggling and that a hardware store could service the family’s boat company, Offshore Lift Boats, while also serving as a retail hub for the needs of the people in southern Lafourche.
Kief Hardware was a Lafourche mainstay, but was closing. The opportunity to fill that void could be worthwhile — albeit something the sisters considered a longshot at best to actually happen.
So, they floated their thoughts to family and co-workers — almost in a tongue and cheek manner. But what the sisters thought was a joke quickly gained traction.
And now, many months later, Melaco Sisters Hardware & Supplies has been born.
Located at 16230 La. Highway 3235 (the backroad) in Cut Off, Melaco Sisters Hardware & Supplies has been in operation since the start of the year — a Do it Best co-op with more than 150,000 products for customers to choose from in hardware, plumbing, electrical, fasteners, paint, outdoors, lawn and garden, sporting goods and also a full-service industrial/commercial department.
The sisters say business is growing steadily and their goal is to help locals get through this tough economy and into a better, brighter place in the future.
“We know everyone right now is short-handed,” Lauren said. “We know some supplies are difficult to find or they’re only located at places far away. We said, ‘Let’s just make it all happen in one place.’ We want to be here for our community because they’ve always been here for us. It started as a joke, but it became a passion. This is our backyard. This is where we live. We call it Downtown Cut Off — the little area we’re in. That is our home.”
The store feels like home to those who frequent it — both as customers and employees.
And that’s by design.
The sisters say coming from the business of offshore and moving to hardware has been a total 180 — an entirely new vibe in how business is done and how one communicates with customers and clients.
In offshore, the tone is “hard” and more “cut-throat,” and it was hard for the sisters initially to earn respect, they say, in a male-driven industry.
Vanessa said she and her sister regularly traveled to meetings around the Southeast and were often the only females in the room.
“We’d meet very few women in those offices,” Vanessa said. “Taking that leap helped us to build our confidence and prepared us to take on any industry without worrying about it being ‘male-driven.’”
But hardware hasn’t been quite the same grind.
Lauren said while getting organized, they met with several other store owners and they’ve all been helpful in the transition.
She said she also had to learn to soften her tone and body language when dealing with employees on the hardware side so as to not spook customers.
“The oil industry made my sister and I just so hard,” Lauren said. “It was hard at first to let go of that and to soften up. That’s been the biggest different — the energy is just totally different.”
Being surrounded by the Melaco Sisters staff makes that transition easier than it perhaps might have been, though.
Workers at the store take pride in their job — the sisters say everyone at the business is family, some blood and others adopted in.
For most business owners, that’s a cliche. But Melaco Sisters said at their store, it’s real.
Since opening, Lauren and Vanessa have discovered the talents of their team — assigning each person to the department that best allows them to thrive.
From there, they try and let their workers “do their own thing,” because they believe that builds pride in the product.
“We let people do their jobs,” Lauren said. “I don’t believe in micromanaging unless you have to.”
On social media, the store’s personality shows through.
In posts, the company is both informative about their products and services, but also witty. Often, employees are shown enjoying their days.
Vanessa said she credits her little sister with their successes on Facebook and Instagram. But Lauren said it’s a credit to the entire team who has gone the extra mile to make the posts stand out.
“I took it to them and said, ‘Hey, we have to improve our social media presence,’” Lauren said. “And they took it and got ideas together and it’s a group effort. As bosses, we gave it up and gave it to the employees and they took it and ran with it, and it’s been great. It makes for a fun working environment.”
With the business now through four months, the sisters say their focus is on continued successes in the future.
There are plans for growth in clientele, sure, and there are high hopes for the future.
But no matter where things head, that family-like vibe will never go away. Also, that commitment to servicing the community will always stay in place, as well.
The sisters add that no matter what locals need, they’ll aim to provide.
“We have our good days. We have our bad days,” Lauren said. “But no matter what, we pull back together and we make it work. We’re blessed. We have an amazing team, and working with my sister has been excellent. This has been very, very fun.”
“We want to be here for our community because they’ve always been here for us. It started as a joke, but it became a passion. This is our backyard. This is where we live. We call it Downtown Cut Off — the little area we’re in. That is our home.”
– Vanessa Melancon Pierce•
BY CASEY GISCLAIR
