William Hetzer, Sr.
June 1, 2007
Gerald Hite, Sr.
June 8, 2007
Business owner John Barrilleaux traveled to Mississippi nearly five years ago to pursue other academic and entrepreneurial ventures, only to have the devastation of Hurricane Katrina bring him back to his Louisiana culture.
In Mississippi, he worked and taught school until Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home, his business and the Bay St. Louis schools, leaving him with nothing.
However, he didn’t get discouraged. He packed his bags and come home to Thibodaux for a fresh start.
Before Katrina, he was in the process of opening up a packaging and shipping business in Mississippi when the storm hit the Gulf. “I was going to open a package and shipping business in Mississippi, but the storms came. I continued with my initial plan and opened the store in Thibodaux in 2006,” he said.
After the storm, Barrilleaux said he saw a need for an additional packaging and shipping service in Thibodaux. He said the storms nearly crippled the Southeast Louisiana United States Postal Service.
“The local USPS was great for mailing small packages and letters. The problem arose when people needed to get their mail across the state and country in a timely fashion. The people who needed next day delivery and two-day weren’t being assured that the packages would get where they needed to be,” he said.
“Residents were also subjected to long lines and timely waits at the local post office on a daily basis,” he added.
Qwik Pack & Ship has eased the stress of one-day shipping and priority mail for many Thibodaux, Vacherie, Labadieville and Raceland residents. Barrilleaux said they find services at his shipping and packaging business are easily available and reassuring.
“I feel that my business is successful because FedEx and UPS recovered faster than the USPS did,” he said.
Barrilleaux said the USPS is still feeling the effects of the storm nearly two years later.
Outside of being a business owner, he is a 1997 graduate of Nicholls State University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music education and landed his first teaching job as a music instructor at Evergreen Junior High School in Terrebonne Parish. For three years, Barrilleaux taught.
In Mississippi, Barrilleaux earned his master’s degree in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2000.
“I initially moved to Mississippi for graduate school, and after I got my first job I wanted to stay on the coast for a while,” he said.
He landed a job as a band director at St. Stanislaus College Preparatory School in Bay St. Louis, Miss. He taught there for two years. Next, he was the band director at Bay Waveland Middle School in Bay St. Louis, where he taught for three years.
During that time, Barrilleaux became a first-time business owner, opening up a small coffee shop in Long Beach, Miss in 2004, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Down, but in no way out, he returned home to Thibodaux to start life anew.
Staff photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN * Tri-Parish Times * Qwik Pack and Ship business owner and Thibodaux native John Barrilleaux looks through his business card printing catalog, which is a separate feature of the shipping and packaging business.
