Businesses in New Iberia have been booming over the last two years, giving residents the opportunity to serve their community in more ways than one.

Across the city, local shops have continued to rise, and despite the global pandemic last year, Teche Area businesses have been able to maintain their operations. From local boutiques to packing and furniture outlets all the way to event signage, business owners in New Iberia are proud of the services they are able to provide for their customers.

Nicole Wallace runs Glamour Closet, a women’s clothing boutique in New iberia, and plans to add home decor in the coming months. Opened in February of 2020, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop her from adapting, creating an online shop from her store.

Micki Harris, owner of Oh Ship! in New Iberia, officially opened up her store’s doors in July of this year. Oh Ship! provides not only packing supplies but also home decor, giving local residents a wide variety of items they may need for their home. With her experience in owning a business already,in Harris Heating and Cooling, Harris said she knew what the COVID-19 pandemic could do to her shop.

Courtney Broussard knows too well the hardships of the pandemic. After losing her job as a waitress last year, the mother of two knew she needed to find a way to make money for her family. She opened Get Lit With Marquee Event Rentals in August of 2020, a event rental and supply company that specializes in marquee signs that light up for diffrencent of events. Over the last 11 months, Broussard has done over 200 set-ups and is excited to see what this year holds.

Why did you open a store in New Iberia?

NW: I just fell in love with the town and the business here.

MH: We live here and we also have another business here, Harris Heating and Cooling.

CB: It’s a great concept. Everybody loves it. And the niche part of it is that everyday there is a birthday. You’re always going to have celebrations.

What have these last two years been like for you and your business?

NW: March and April were probably my busiest months. I did really, really well. I shipped out, I delivered and when I went back to work in May, it was really busy. I had a really good year in my first year in business.

MH: The HVAC business didn’t suffer as bad as we thought it would. AC is kind of a necessity in Louisiana so I’m sure people held off on buying new systems unless they really had to, but as far as service and people who needed stuff, we were good with that. As far as my business, I went into it knowing it was something I wanted to do and I took advantage of the slow time to get into it knowing on the front end, don’t order a whole bunch of inventory because you may not sell it all right away.

CB: If it wasn’t for COVID and the additional down time, it probably wouldn’t exist today. I tried to take the initiative to turn it into at-home celebrations because you can still have a drive-by parade for birthdays because they still wanted to celebrate. There has been a bit of adjusting, but at the end of the day, people are still celebrating.

What do you enjoy most about owning your own business?

NW: I like meeting people, I like the social aspect of it. It’s fun and I just like the environment.

MH: I think the best thing about owning both businesses … It’s a family atmosphere. The people that come here are the same.

It’s not teenagers that shop here, it’s family that comes here.

CB: I do like the flexibility of being the person who gets to wear all of the hats and gets to have all the involvements with all the different people I work with.