Rise Up

Thibodaux Main Street Rises To Meet Challenges During Pandemic

The heart of a community is often found in its downtown area. Thibodaux Main Street is no exception. Bursting with energy and humming with constant motion, downtown Thibodaux is a thriving area for local businesses. 

That was until the pandemic forced all non-essential businesses to close their doors and follow rules set into place to protect our community from the spread of COVID-19. 

Danielle Stein, executive director of Thibodaux Main Street, Inc., stood by in March 2020 and watched as local businesses closed their doors, uncertain of what the future would hold. 

“All of the businesses in downtown Thibodaux are locally-owned, small businesses except for one,” explains Stein. “One of the benefits of being a small business, opposed to a bigger corporation or a box store, is that they answer to themselves. They have the ability to pivot. That was one of the big words we used a lot last year – small businesses are able to pivot on a dime overnight. So when the pandemic hit [our community], our businesses were able to take a step back and say, ‘okay, what do I need to do to stay open?’”

The local businesses immediately began to spring into action. By using methods of communication such as a private Facebook group for downtown business owners, the small businesses began to rapidly bounce ideas off of each other. Overnight, restaurants and the retailers began to plan for the move to curbside pickup. Stein was able to work with the businesses to assist, even designating certain spots for curbside pickup or outdoor dining.

Stein was able to communicate information from the national network of Main Streets businesses to her businesses as well. Suggestions came in the form of cleaning schedules and protocol, to ways to efficiently offer curbside pickup or even free delivery. 

Many of the retail stores took their shops into the digital world, creating or beefing up existing websites to offer e-commerce services, and joining the trend of selling through Facebook lives. Restaurants began moving to curbside pickup and delivery by hiring their own drivers or by utilizing services such as Waitr. 

“Our downtown businesses understood they were not considered ‘essential’,” shared Stein. “Small businesses don’t turn a profit all the time. I think people have this misconception that as small business owners, they’re just rolling in the money, but they’re not. They work six, seven days a week. Any day they are closed, it hurts them. So they knew that they had to come up with creative ways to stay visible in front of customers.” 

The creative ideas kept rolling in. One restaurant, Spahr’s, offered grocery essentials to patrons with their Making Groceries Curbside Pickup. Peppers Pizzeria offered a “make your own pizza” kit where you could get pizza dough and toppings all in a kit for you to be able to build your own dinner with your family. Dear Boutique sold Easter shirts that children could color. South Coast Baby Company put together Boredom Bags that included different types of activities for children to do. 

The businesses also partnered with one another to help make family time more interesting. Peppers Pizzeria and the Purple Penguin Art Company partnered to do art and dinner to-go packs. Purple Penguin provided little art canvases with sketches of Nicholls that came in a pack with your pizza, available for delivery or pickup. 

Through it all, the resiliency of the small business community shined brightly. Thibodaux Main Street proudly states they did not have a single permanent business closure in 2020 downtown. 

“It’s easy to get set in your ways,” said Stein. “I think the pandemic forced all of us to reevaluate what we do daily, and come up with new strategies to reach customers. I have to commend our small business owners. Being a business owner is hard. But they were quick to shrug off their old ways and do what they had to do to stay open. There weren’t very many of our businesses that stayed closed for long periods of time. The majority stayed open in some capacity, even if they closed the storefront and swapped to online sales with curbside pickups.” 

Thibodaux Main Street was able to apply for and receive a $1,300 grant from Louisiana Main Street, the state coordinating program. With that money, Thibodaux Main Street was able to purchase cleaning supplies, signage and a digital billboard to promote that downtown was open. 

One thing Thibodaux Main Street is known for is their events which bring the community together to enjoy shopping, dining, music, art and more. They typically host two seasonal Art Walks, Thibodeauxville Fall Festival and the Big Boy Cook-off and other amazing events. With new rules and pandemic restrictions in place, many of the regular events were canceled. 

However, Thibodaux Main Street was able to host a fall Arts Walk, one of the first events in the area, on Friday, September 25, 2020, shortly after Louisiana moved into Phase 3. 

“We knew that this was going to need to be an outdoor event,” recalls Stein. “In past years, artists set up inside of a business, but I made it clear that we weren’t going to allow that so the businesses could have space for their customers. We set our artists up outside and we posted regularly on our social media that these are the guidelines that you have to adhere to. We reminded people about wearing their masks and social distancing. I think that people were just so willing and ready to get out that they were like, ‘we’ll accommodate; we’ll listen and behave.’”

After the success of the Fall Arts Walk, Thibodaux Main Streets moved forward with hosting a Main Street Market in November to tie into Small Business Saturday, which is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This event was similar to the Arts Walk, but allowed any type of vendor with locally made products, not just artists. The event was a welcomed one, as many vendors had gone without craft fairs and other events in 2020 where they typically would have sold their goods.

Stein continues to have high hopes for 2021, looking forward to the fall and dreaming of the day they can once again host large community events such as Thibodeauxville and Big Boy Cook-off. 

“I think we all feel like we are ready for the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Stein. “We are ready to be around one another again. It’s such a part of our culture down here; it’s who we are.”

Until that time comes, Stein and the Thibodaux Main Street businesses will continue to push forward, utilizing creative outlets to encourage their customers to return. 

Stein remains amazed at the tenacity and drive that she saw from downtown businesses as they came together to stay open. 

“They all found a strategy that worked for them and they just did so well! I know to them, it may have been a struggle, but they just made it look so effortless and flawless. They really handled it with a lot of grace.” •