Down on St. Claude and Franklin, in the upper 9th ward of New Orleans, there is a bespoke furniture store that sells handmade room sets in the Louis XV and XVI styles. This is an old, old store. It is by appointment only that one can browse furniture that invites ghosts of a different era who knock about the show room. No live person is ever seen inside. Who buys these curiosities is a looming question in the neighborhood. These pristine sofas and double-wide mirrors need big, big rooms…not the narrow ones in the shotguns and doubles that make up the majority of the houses in the Marigny/Bywater. Perhaps kings come from Europe. Perhaps Yankees from New York or Connecticut or Maine.
Across the street is where the locals shop. There you can layaway a mattress or a toaster oven or any number of useful items. The customer is always king, and there is activity and conversation and gossip. After shopping, you can satiate your hunger with a McFish or an ice cream or sip a coffee off the dollar menu. Most people go for the 52″ plasma screen that is always broadcasting CNN. It is a good place for political debate and to see the nice looking boys in their low swung trousers…their backsides swathed in colorful under garments.
