Local couple finds niche at Old Green Store

Festivals abound in October

October 19, 2011

Grand Réveil Acadien!

October 19, 2011

Commerce has taken place at the Old Green Store since 1882. Originally a company store for plantation workers, the building changed owners several times while opening and closing over the years.

Now it has reopened again, keeping the name by which locals know it best, but this time the Old Green Store is an antique and collectables shop.

David and Michele Lopez are the proprietors. He retired from Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government after 25 years and she continues to teach at Oakshire Elementary School in Houma.

The couple admitted that when they first bought this property they were not certain what they wanted to do with it.

For more than four years they remodeled the structure and developed their business plan.

“We first thought we could do a restaurant and store together,” Michele said. “But when he remodeled the building we realized there was no way we could run two businesses.”

David said an enjoyable part of the Old Green Store is not only looking over merchandise with the intent of making a purchase, but stepping back in time and imagining the stories behind various items. The prize conversation piece is a large safe that came with the 3,000-square-foot building, and which no one seems able to open.

Visitors can only speculate what might be inside from past generations.

“There’s not too many of these stores in this area,” Michele said. “We have collectables and we have local artists that brought their artwork in here. We have gifts.”

With their place of business on the National Historical Registry, the Lopez’s help keep history alive by making history the theme of their inventory.

“This is our first business as husband and wife,” David said. “It’s come a long way and that’s a good thing.”