Sept. 8
September 8, 2009
Wilda Marie Boudreaux Molaison
September 10, 2009
Need a genuine alligator head? Authentic Cajun sauces? The latest Tab Benoit CD? Louisiana Cajun Stuff is the place.
Owners Dale and Pat Guidry – Cut Off natives who now call Houma home – opened LA Cajun Stuff 11 years ago in Houma’s Southland Mall. Their mission, store manager Christy Torres says, was to preserve their Cajun heritage.
“The Guidrys are true Cajuns and they thought that they needed to promote their heritage in this area,” Torres explained. “A lot of people don’t know about the different foods southern Louisiana has to offer, nor do they know that Cajuns have their own language.
“This was an opportunity for Mr. Dale and Mrs. Pat to really show people what Cajun Country has to offer,” she added.
The Guidry’s Cajun roots date back to the 18th century, around the time the Cajuns were exiled from Nova Scotia and eventually settled in southern Louisiana, according to Torres.
In the 1970s, Dale and his father worked, as many other Cajuns did, in the shrimping industry off the Gulf of Mexico. When the oil field industry expanded, he became a tugboat captain.
Simultaneously, Pat was perfecting her Cajun art at home. As demand grew for her one-of-a-kind products, Dale joined his wife’s enterprise. The couple toured the country showcasing Pat’s Cajun art for years before deciding it was time to focus their energy in the home area.
Back in Houma, they opened a kiosk – the original LA Cajun Stuff site – in the mall. Business steadily grew and, within four years, the Guidry’s operation moved into one of the mall’s department stores.
“We have a good location being in the mall,” Torres said. “We get a lot of traffic and a lot of people know that we are here. The tourist bureau also helps us out a lot too because, when tourists come in looking for souvenirs and stuff, they always direct them to us.
“We are the only actual souvenir shop in Houma,” she added.
Another added advantage is that mall visitors frequently seek out unique places. “When people come to a mall, they want to see some local flare instead of the generic stores that most mall’s offer,” Torres said.
According to the next generation of Guidry’s, Dale and Pat’s sons Gary and Greg, the family store specializes in flare. In fact, locating “on the bayou” enables them to share all the treasures synonymous with the Cajun culture.
“Our quality products can make you feel as though you are paddling a pirogue down the bayou or catching beads on Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras Day,” Gary said on the company Web site. “We are known throughout the world for our ‘joie de vivre’ (joy of life), and our unique products reflect that way of life.”
LA Cajun Stuff deals mainly in various Cajun souvenirs – everything from coffee mugs to door mats to Cajun books and various art pieces – great as gifts or for decorating a home or office. It also carries Louisiana State University and New Orleans Saints apparel, Cajun cooking mixes such as Café du Monde beignet mix and cookbooks penned by local chefs.
“People look forward to the LSU and Saints items every year around football time,” she said. “Having the LSU stuff in the store is a real plus for us.”
LA Cajun Stuff also dabbles in promoting local musicians. Its shelves are lined with a selection of Cajun, swamp pop and zydeco music.
“More than anything, Mr. Dale wanted to promote local Cajun music when he first started out,” Torres said. “But he had a hard time finding local artists (music) because they just performed. They really didn’t record anything.
In time, that’s changed.
“There was such a demand for local music that, slowly, they started adding different artists and making CDs. LA Cajun Stuff also hosts live performances at the store on some weekends when an artist has a new CD coming out,” Torres noted.
And most recently, LA Cajun Stuff has gone global via the World Wide Web. “It’s our way of delivering Cajun goods to people wherever they are,” she added. “The Guidrys are real Louisiana Cajuns and we deal in quality Cajun goods.”
LA Cajun Stuff salesperson Frances Dufrene shows off one of the store’s many alligator heads. Owned and operated by Dale and Pat Guidry, LA Cajun Stuff carries a variety of Louisiana-made items, including south Louisiana food mixes, cookbooks and music. * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN
