GALVESTON — Any other Mardi Gras and Mike Ragsdale wouldn’t have bothered to open the doors to his antique shop in downtown Galveston. Then again, this year’s Mardi Gras was like no other before.
“We’ve had some nice sales, better than (if) I’d been closed,” the co-owner of Big House Antiques on Mechanic Street said.
Mardi Gras partyers and the sale of antiques or other retail items didn’t mix well, so instead of fighting the crowds who would mainly only come in to use the restroom, Ragsdale and others would just simply shutter their doors.
In the post-Hurricane Ike Mardi Gras, though, the downtown entertainment district was drastically scaled back, meaning fewer people and a more subdued crowd.
“A lot of people who came into the store didn’t even know Mardi Gras was going on,” Ragsdale said. “It’s been quieter this year.”
Quieter for sure, but not dead insisted Iris Speed and Robert Johnson, the owners of The Front Parlor jewelry and gift store on The Strand. The weekend served as the store’s grand reopening since the hurricane flooded their shop.
Good Opening Day
It was a good opening day for the husband and wife team in more ways than one.
“Mardi Gras is usually a killer for our business,” Speed said. “We had a phenomenal day (on Saturday).”
Regular customers streamed in all weekend to welcome the store back.
Among them was Sue Tigert, who lives on Postoffice Street in downtown, and has seen firsthand the recovery of businesses.
“I think we are bouncing back pretty fast, compared to what you see in New Orleans,” she said.
Businesses Not Dead
Five months after the hurricane sent an 8-foot back surge of water into downtown Galveston, Johnson said he is sick of hearing people say that The Strand and downtown business along the city’s historic district is gone.
“I’d say that 75 percent of the business on our end of the street (2100 block) are opened today for business,” Johnson said. “People need to stop saying that business is dead on The Strand.”
Still, the number of empty spaces and “Space for lease” signs outnumber the “Open for business signs” downtown. Still, there were plenty of bright spots to be found, even if a business was not yet open.
With their faces pressed against the glass, the Leone family of Houston peered into the reconstruction work taking place at La Kings. A sign on the door of the landmark candy store promises a spring reopening.
“I was scared they wouldn’t rebuild,” Brittney Leone, 12, said. “Every time we come down here we have to get our taffy.”
Brittney, sister Brooke, 14, mom Janet and dad Shaun make regular visits to the island and plan to continue to make the island a destination. Their trip on Sunday wasn’t about the first weekend of Mardi Gras, however.
‘We’ve Been Impressed’
“We didn’t even know about Mardi Gras this weekend. We got out of church and thought it would be nice to see what was happening,” Shaun Leone said. “What we’ve been impressed with is that mostly everyone seems to be trying to rebuild like it was.
“I liked it like it was. I hope they keep it that way.”
Not all will be like it was before the storm, but one of the new attractions downtown that’s already drawing tourists is actually compliments of Ike. Along the wall of the Galveston Arts Center, a black line marks how high the water got during the storm. All throughout the weekend, Mardi Gras revelers would stop their bead catching to pose for photos near the marker.
Same thing, too, at Tsunami Bar where streak of blue paint on a mirror marks the flood line. A bartender there said customers like to take photos show that they can see their reflection in the mirror and the water level marker at the same time.
New business owner Rick Legge, said he likes the progress he’s seen on The Strand.
This was his first experience with Mardi Gras as a business owner. His Bacchus Win Bar had been opened just three months when Ike hit. He wasn’t able to reopen until two weeks ago.
So far business has been steady, he said. Still, Legge hopes for more.
“In the bar business, you want to get the business when you can,” he said. He’d like to see some changes, too, beyond Mardi Gras.
“I’d like to see activities to keep people down here, more entertainment activities for a more diverse crowd,” Legge said, noting that the mix of local bands with other activities downtown during Mardi Gras would seem to work on a more regular basis, too.
