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H om e G rown B usiness es Marceaux’s Clothing Company by Chaney Ferguson
M
arceaux’s Clothing Company provides a warm atmosphere, friendly service, and affordable clothing. The comfortable layout of the store invites customers to browse through all the unique and stylish clothes and accessories. A box of toys in the shoe corner offers children a chance to play while their parents shop. The Beginning The clothing business has always been a part of John Marceaux’s life. He worked for his father for two years before going into business for himself. “My father was in the clothing business his whole life,” said Marceaux. “I think it was a natural step following in his footsteps.” In the late seventies Marceaux opened a children’s clothing store called Briar Patch. Later he, his father, and his brother started Marceaux Clothing. “When they decided to get out my wife, Janet, and I bought it,” said Marceaux. “Shortly after that I sold Briar Patch and concentrated on the Marceaux clothing store.” Marceaux also owns Uniform Outfitters in Crowley where they sell school uniforms to Acadia Parish. Marceaux’s also sells uniforms along with women’s clothing, men’s suits, jewelry, purses, and shoes. Over the past twenty or so years Marceaux has added many different lines to the store. Most recently, the store has taken on more shoe lines such as Volatile and YellowBox. “During the last two years Crocs have been popular. We sold a ton of Crocs,” Marceaux said, laughing at the memory.
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see if that’s something that would work for us.” Accrding to Marceaux, the market is like a mall with a lot of mini-stores. There are certain lines they visit consistently because they have done well for them in the past. A Canadian line called Tribal is one they always go back to. Marceaux describes the line as good quality, consistent fit, and attractively priced. “You walk the market and see what everyone is offering and make plans for where you want to go,” Marceaux said. A Change in Retail When you drive through small towns now there are barely any clothing stores left. Everything has changed in the past ten to fifteen years due to vertical retail. Vertical retail stores are those that design, produce, and sell their own product. “When you used to drive through Jennings you could probably find ten clothing stores. Now you’re down to about four,” said Marceaux. “It’s changed tremendously.” With vertical retail popping up Marceaux’s had to take a different tact. They moved their customer age base up, shifting their primary customers from young high school females to missy customers. “Women still care about fashion,” said Marceaux, “Women from thirty and older are a greatly underserved market in small towns. They get overlooked. So that’s the market we are trying to set-up.” Choosing the Right Styles Marceaux’s carries a variety of men and women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, and LSU products. John and Janet
Marceaux are always paying attention to changes in fashion so they know what to look for when they go four times a year to market in Dallas. “My wife does a lot of catalogue browsing to see what everyone is wearing and see what is new,” Marceaux said. “We always notice what people are wearing. There have been times when my wife and I have asked someone who made what they are wearing. We can
Face to the Community Marceaux’s windows face the busy North Lake Arthur Avenue. Window displays are a major way to invite customers to come in and browse. The displays are changed about every other week. “I think it is very important. It’s your face to your customers driving by,” Marceaux said. According to Marceaux, once