The few, the proud, the silver and gold

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, half of all businesses fail within the first five years. Of the remaining, just a few ever reach the distinguished 50-year mark.

Tri-Parish Times & BusinessNews is recognizing those chosen few in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes as well as businesses that are 40 years old on their way to 50.

After visiting with some of these businesses, I discovered one thing that each has in common. Every one of them had faced tough times and made it through. They had to adapt through the years to remain relevant.

“I found that the clientele changed every 10 years, and we had to adapt,” said Beulah Rodrigue, who ran the 45-year-old Chez Lilli bridal shop until she sold it in 1998. “There were many, many bridal shops (in 1980). Now there are only about three in Houma. I was one that survived.”

Over the course of the last century, many famous businesses and entrepreneurs swam through rough times and emerged stronger.

The Pepsi-Cola Company went bankrupt during the Great Depression in 1931. They emerged only to file bankruptcy again eight years later.

A candy manufacturer with retail locations, Charles Guth, helped the company emerge from its second liquidation after Coca-Cola refused to discount the syrup for his stores’ fountains.

Pepsi is now the world’s second largest soft drink distributor.

The master of animation, the man who was one of the richest men in the world when he died in 1966, also went through tough times. Walt Disney embarked on his career in filmmaking when he and a partner began making films under the name Laugh-O-Gram.

It went bankrupt in 1923.

He moved to Hollywood and five years later introduced the world to Mickey Mouse.

The H. J. Heinz Company also emerged from bankruptcy to supremacy. Heinz was just 25 years old when he and two partners began a company that made horseradish. A business panic in 1875 bankrupted his enterprise, but Heinz persevered.

The very next year, he joined with his brother and a cousin to start a new company in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The reorganized group started making ketchup, and the business took off.

The secret to surviving in business lies hidden in the stories of those who have survived. They are the ones we celebrate this week.

The Tri-Parish Times painstakingly compiled the list of silver and gold businesses in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. Throughout the year, we will be updating this list and beginning the process of identifying silver and gold businesses in St. Mary Parish.

If you know of a business in the Tri-parish area that is 40 years or older, or nearing their 40th anniversary, let us know, so we can add them to our recognition list. Information can be sent to me by e-mail or by calling Brenda Kurtz at (985) 876-3008.