Southern Charm Home & Gifts opened its doors about six months ago in the heart of a bustling shopping center in Metairie.
The 1,000-square-foot store, which owner Carol Wangler says was started to answer a genuine need for more shopping options in the community, has been embraced by neighbors and is steadily building a loyal customer base.
Wangler is no stranger to the retail scene. She and her late husband had stores in the French Quarter, but she says this is her first time working to cultivate a local and loyal clientele rather than one-off interactions with tourists who would come and go.
So far, she is loving it.
“My favorite part is definitely the customers,” she says. “It's New Orleans, so you make a lot of new friends. It's a very welcoming neighborhood, and New Orleans is a very welcoming city. If people are having a party, they're always like: 'Come on over! Have some crawfish! Have some barbecue!' We tap into that because we sell a lot of hospitality items.”
Like a true New Orleans area institution, Southern Charm has merchandise tailored to all of the major seasons: Carnival, Festival, Crawfish, Football and Christmas — and everything in between.
“Mardi Gras is big-time, of course,” Wangler says. “We have all the different Mardi Gras shirts and everything Mardi Gras-related. Then we have everything you might need for French Quarter Fest or Jazz Fest: sunglasses and sun hats, summer-y handbags, earrings for every occasion.”
For football season, the store sells accessories, door hangers, door mats, and a party boat for iced-down beverages.
“With Fourth of July coming up and Memorial Day just passed, we have a lot of red, white, and blue items. We had a lot of inventory for Mother’s Day and graduation gifts, and now we are stocked up with a lot of great items for Father's Day. We have something for everyone and every occasion.”
Southern Charm Home and Gifts has a wide inventory for a diverse clientele
Beyond its diverse and expansive inventory, Southern Charm is situated to provide an immersive shopping experience.
It offers a relaxed atmosphere where customers can explore at their leisure while also running other errands: The shopping center also contains a restaurant, a dry cleaner, a hair salon, a nail salon and a pet groomer.
“It's very laid-back shopping; you don't have to go to the mall,” Wangler says. “People are coming back to more in-store shopping. They want to see things in person and get that unique gift, and we definitely have that. We have lots of fun things at really good price points. Our items are not expensive, but they are high-quality.”
Wangler is a champion gift-giver who, rather than giving out generic coffee mugs or — heaven forbid — impersonal gift cards, loves picking out the perfect gift for every person.
“You have to think about the person and what they love,” she says. “When I was shopping for gifts or home decor, I would have something in mind for a person and just couldn’t find what I was looking for.”
She says she loves looking at magazines and keeping up with current trends, so she has a good sense of what’s out there.
“I wanted to offer to the community what I was looking for, which is a place where they can find whatever they're looking for — absolutely any person you can think of, we have something for them.”
Among the many items they carry are home goods including furniture, local art and mirrors.
There’s also a variety of glassware and barware, in addition to jewelry, handbags and tote bags, clothing and hats, dish towels and tea towels, and bath and body items such as all-natural soaps, lotions, and candles.
Wangler especially loves seafood-themed items: dinner napkins, table runners, serving platters, crawfish napkin rings, and fish and oyster plates.
Southern Charm strives to be not so much a store as a destination where every visit promises new discoveries and delightful surprises. With a dedication to customer satisfaction and a love for all things New Orleans, Wangler urges anyone looking for a birthday or host gift or planning a party to swing by and take a look.
“People are so surprised when they come in,” she says. “We are getting such good feedback because people can come here for anything, and they are just amazed at everything we have.”
Gambit: What are your current favorite trends in home decor?
Carol Wangler: We’re seeing so many retro items, and people are going back to cloth tablecloths and napkins and even cloth cocktail napkins. We’re seeing lots of old-school items — florals and embroidered things.
G: What's your favorite item you currently carry in the shop?
Wangler: I love these sugar skull pillows we have. I know that’s mostly a Halloween thing, but we got them in for Cinco de Mayo, and they are fantastic. And I love the jazz artwork we have because it’s so fun and colorful.
Southern Charm Home & Gifts is located at 5928 W. Metairie Ave., Suite 11, Metairie. Reach the shop at (504) 586-0419 or visit the website www.SouthernCharmHomeAndGifts.com.
