Louisiana featured with dedicated inventory

The one that got away
January 10, 2012
Roy Ivey
January 13, 2012
The one that got away
January 10, 2012
Roy Ivey
January 13, 2012

Dale Guidry measures the success of his business by the fact that when neighboring stores at Southland Mall were empty for three of the past 12 years his remained in business. He also said, over a breakfast of sausage biscuit and chocolate milk, that having the loyalty of the same two employees for more than a decade is not only unusual in the retail business, but is reflective of how he considers them and his regular clientele to be family.

“You don’t see that very often,” Guidry said. “I truly have been blessed.”


Born and raised in Cut Off, Guidry married his childhood sweetheart, Pat, and began working after high school as a shrimper. In 1977, he made a move to the oil industry and then operated tugboats.


Pat, in the meantime was developing her skills as a folk artist with little thought of where that might lead her family.

“In 1995 I got off the boat and got tools [to help] my wife doing arts and crafts,” Guidry said. “We did that from 1995 and went all over the United States selling arts and crafts.”


The Guidry’s moved their arts and crafts operation to a 10 foot by 10 foot kiosk at Southland Mall and expanded their working on weekends to produce and sell items seven days a week. “It almost killed us,” Guidry said.


When Lafayette-based Louisiana Hot Stuff closed, the Guidry’s recognized an opportunity to expand beyond traditional Cajun folk art, lease a storefront and become a long-term tenant. “So we started, just my wife and I, and we built this store.”

Guidry said that he began making connections with suppliers by reading the tags on merchandise from Tabasco bottles to t-shirts. Afraid at first that he could not fill a store with enough inventory, or a proper mix, the owner of La. Cajun Stuff found himself outgrowing two locations before finally making a home at the current 4,500 square foot location.


While enclosed malls across the country became homogenized with the same chain stores, that some consumers contend spoiled unique selections to given parts of the country, Guidry said was able to thrive as a local business because of the unique product line in a market that demands it.


“And nobody is more Cajun than me,” Guidry said with a laugh. “I speak better Cajun French than English.”

Guidry prides himself on the fact that his store is not a typical tourist stop, although it does offer a gift selection that encourages purchasing and sending items to friends and relatives in other parts of the world.

Local authors write books for both children and adults and all volumes from cookbooks to classic kids stores with a Cajun flavor and historic reference material all pertain to south Louisiana.

Guidry admits that music sales account for 45 percent of his business n the largest selection of Louisiana CDs between New Orleans and Lafayette n but said that the hottest selling individual items include LSU and Saints merchandise. “Especially when they win,” he said.

With product selection ranging from preserved alligator heads to jambalaya mix, and musical instruments to Mardi Gras supplies, Guidry said the wide inventory helps explain the word “stuff” in the store’s name.

“We’ve got this back porch [stage] over here,” Guidry said directing others to a rear corner of his store. From a platform designed like the back porch of an old camp down the bayou, Guidry allows local musicians to perform so as to draw customers from the mall’s common areas into the store. “They come to hear the music and they see what we got,” he said. “It’s good for [musicians promoting their CDs] and it’s good for me. Music brings people here then they see it is not just a music store.”

Christy Torres is one of the employees that have been with La. Cajun Stuff for more than a decade. In her case that has been 11 years. “When you find a good job you keep it,” she said.

“Everybody thinks my employees are my daughters,” Guidry said. “I love them to death. How often do you hear that in a business?”

Guidry noted that La. Cajun Stuff has become known literally around the world n online shopping makes this possible n for its joie de vivre and products that reflect a that way of life in south Louisiana. He said that this store is also unique from other regional-themed stores across the country because products carried here have a connection that is 100 percent south Louisiana.

“We’re doing great,” Guidry said. “I’ve been blessed. I thank God every day for this.”

Louisiana featured with dedicated inventory