Cut Off general store aims to satisfy customers

Blums maintain 100-years of trafficking dried shrimp
February 26, 2014
Celebrating $40M expansion
February 26, 2014
Blums maintain 100-years of trafficking dried shrimp
February 26, 2014
Celebrating $40M expansion
February 26, 2014

James Cabirac was 15 years old when he started working at Kief Hardware. At that time, the store was still at his original location off La. Highway 1 in Galliano.

“I could walk to the store, so I asked them a few times and they finally gave me a job,” Cabirac said.


A couple of years later, Cabirac thrived as an employee and became a manager. By age 23, he bought the store and officially began his quest to create a fully-stocked general store for the people of south Lafourche Parish to enjoy.

The local businessman has owned Kief Hardware since 1998 – the latest ownership change in the 70-year-old store’s history. But under Cabirac’s watch, Kief has thrived, expanding its roots to a newly built storefront at a more trafficked location off La. Highway 3235 in Cut Off – a store that has evolved from the “hardware store” name and has blossomed into a business that now also has groceries, tools, household supplies and pretty much whatever else a person can think of.

“Our goal is to bring back the old-time days where a person can come in and they can get everything they want under one roof,” Cabirac said. “It’s not so much the Walmart approach, because we’re a different store than they are. But before they existed, there were stores like that – general stores where you could get by if you did most of your shopping from there.”


Cabirac has been a part of the local business for the majority of his life. But the store was around for many decades before he took over.

Kief Hardware opened in 1944 under the guidance of Clerville Kief – the reason for the store’s name.

The original business owner then yielded control to his daughter – a move that took place “sometime in the 1970s or early 1980s,” according to Cabirac.


Cabirac took over in 1998, purchasing the store from Kief’s daughter just a few days after his 23rd birthday. When he took over, he had been an employee for close to a decade and had been the store’s manager for several years.

“They told me that if I stayed with them, that they’d sell the business to me,” Cabirac said. “So I did, and I took over ownership of the store and we just have kept on going from there.”

One thing worth noting about Kief Hardware is the unique, customer-friendly atmosphere that is present both within the business’s walls and also throughout the south Lafourche community.


In addition to its wide array of quality products, Kief has also become known for its strategy regarding discounts.

Under Cabirac, Kief Hardware has not shied away from aggressive discount promotions – deals that sometimes see the business give away thousands of dollars-worth of merchandise to its customers.

The store’s owner said he uses these tactics as a form of advertisement – customers come in, reap the benefits of the sale and then spread the word to others within the tightly knitted community.


Cabirac said creating that pattern of habitual shopping is why the sales are worthwhile.

“We are always doing things to try and grab attention,” Cabirac said. “We did a promotion one time on Facebook when we first started our grocery section, and we told them, ‘If you spend $100 on groceries with us, we’ll give you $100 back in gift cards.

“So we basically gave away $10,000 worth of product in that idea. But it’s promotion. If we were going to go out and get on the TV or get any kind of ad, it was going to cost money, as well. This way, we created loyal customers and we let word-of-mouth be our friend and work for us.”


So with a newly built store and a ton of offerings, Kief Hardware keeps cruising along into the future.

Cabirac said he hopes people continue to cruise along with he and his staff – the group of people he touts for Kief’s success.

“We have great people here working at the store and great people in our community supporting our store,” Cabirac said. “Without that, nothing here would be possible.”


When Kief Hardware first opened its doors, the business was a conventional hardware store. Today, it is now a full-service general store equipped with groceries and other essentials to keep a home afloat.  

CASEY GISCLAIR | TRI-PARISH TIMES