Pat Chauvin

Pat Chauvin always wanted to run a dress shop. So one winter afternoon in 1963, she decided to make that dream a reality.

Chauvin and her husband Philip headed to New Orleans that day and purchased $600 of dresses to get the business started.

“We put $250 down,” Chauvin said. “But we looked honest, so they gave us the rest on credit.”

It’s pretty safe to assume the decision to invest in the Chauvin’s business was a good idea.

Pat’s of Chauvin has been in business for close to 50 years now, initially starting out as a small family shop inside their home after that initial $600 purchase.

“We had a very small house and we had three small children,” Chauvin said. “So we took one bedroom, moved the furniture out and Philip put a galvanized pipe around the room to hang the dresses. We put the three babies in one room and I called my friends and I called my family and I told them, ‘I’m opening a dress shop.’ And they said back, ‘Are you crazy?’ I said back, ‘Possibly so, but are you going to support me?’”

That answer was decided right away, as customers piled into the Chauvin’s home, forcing them to seek their own building.

Over the years, Pat’s of Chauvin has relocated a handful of times, before settling in their current location at 5086 La. Highway 56 in Chauvin.

The store currently houses social occasion dresses, school uniforms, children’s clothing, among many other types of attire.

“We never imagined this when we first got started,” Chauvin said of the store’s growth.

The key to sustained business success, according to Chauvin is providing for customer’s needs and service.

Chauvin’s staff (most of whom have been with the store for several decades); greet customers as soon as they walk into the door to start a welcoming business relationship between customer and client.

She said from those relationships, her store has built a niche for clientele all across the Tri-parish area, servicing people across the area who want good, old-fashioned one-on-one service that might be lost in the bigger chain-owned stores in the cities.

“We want people’s experiences here to be a good one,” the businesswoman said. “We want people to go home and tell their neighbors to come here because of the service they received here.”

So with the store rumbling toward its 50th year, some often pose the question about the future.

Age is a just a number, according to Chauvin, who said neither she nor her husband have any plans to retire.

“We’re not going anywhere,” she said. “Retire isn’t in my vocabulary.”

Title: Co-owner of Pat’s of Chauvin

Age: Undisclosed “Women don’t tell their age.”

Family: Husband, Philip Chauvin; four children, Phylis, Patrick, Philip Jr., and Paul

Education: Graduate of Terrebonne High School, attended Nicholls State

If you could add one hour to each day, you would: Spend extra time with my family

First job: Working at the shrimp factory for 50 cents an hour

What did you want to be growing up? I wanted to have my very own dress shop

Best advice ever received: From my husband, “Go after your dreams, ‘no’ is not a word in your vocabulary.”

Best advice you’d give to a woman in business: “You need to know what you want and learn the pros and cons about your potential business. But once you do your homework, go for it!”

If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what would you be doing? I’d wear many, many hats. I love to cook, have family over, community work, yard work, as well as helping the church. I’d donate my time many places.

Describe yourself in one word: Compassionate.