Fleurty Girl moves operations to the Bay and will pay employees out of work after Ida
A week ago, Fleurty Girl clothing, gifts and decor were selling at five stores in the New Orleans area and one in Bay St. Louis at 153 Main St.
But after Hurricane Ida knocked out power to New Orleans for possibly weeks, “All of our stores are closed except Bay St. Louis,” owner Lauren Haydel said.
That puts most of her 47 employees out of work, evacuated and having to pay housing expenses they didn’t expect.
Haydel, who also evacuated to Birmingham, Alabama, gave herself 24 hours to come up with a plan to take care of her staff, some who have worked for her for 12 years.
On Monday, she began posting her “Fleurty for 30” campaign on social media.
“This is an effort that is powered by the people,” she said.
Electricity in parts of New Orleans is estimated to be out for 30 days after Ida, she said. Proceeds from all online sales at FleurtyGirl.com and at the Bay St. Louis store for 30 days are going into an employee fund so that all 47 employees will be paid, and their health insurance covered, during this time.
She’s doing it, Haydel said, “Because our people are the heart and soul of the operation.”
After 30 days, she expects to be back to full operating capacity and have all employees back to work — “and we can switch to other aid efforts,” she said.
In less than 24 hours after launching her campaign, sales reached 25% of her goal and by 48 hours she’d surpassed 50% of that goal.
Headquarters in the Bay
Haydel also is moving her online and shipping operations into the back of her shop in the Bay, and providing housing for members of her of her staff who come over to help.
Even when the lights come on, as they have at their store in the French Quarter, she said it may be awhile before it’s safe to reopen.
She’s also had to adjust her plan to move in October to her new, larger shop in Bay St. Louis. That will be delayed awhile, she said.
T-shirts say it all
Fleurty Girl sells clothing, gifts, home accessories and footwear, most with a New Orleans theme and many made by local artists.
The company started with T-shirts, and now their graphic tees will help finance the Fleurty 30 campaign and the comeback.
Since the company that prints Fleurty Girl shirts also was impacted by Hurricane Ida, Haydel arranged for the shirts to be printed in Birmingham. Orders to customers will be shipped from Bay St. Louis, starting after Labor Day.
She created new designs to show that New Orleans and Louisiana are resilient and will return.
One says “N.O. Matter What,” and another “Resliencity,” combining the message and the city. There’s even an “I’m Feeling ‘22” for who are eager to leave this year’s coronavirus and hurricane woes behind, and those who like the chorus of Taylor Swift’s “22.”
Haydel said it already was a challenging time for businesses, and she thought COVID-19 was the biggest challenge she’d face.
“I thought COVID was — and here we are,” she said in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida,
“Thanks for everything as we inch our way back to normal,” she said to those supporting Fleurty Girl and New Orleans.
