It's New Orleans: Out to Lunch

In the world of American coffee culture, 1971 changed everything. That was the year Starbucks was born. For much of the country, Starbucks was the first coffee shop in their town.

In New Orleans, our first coffee shop opened in The French Market - in the late 1700’s. For a city not known for being on the cutting edge of business, we were 200 years ahead of the coffee game.

Today, we’re the country’s second biggest coffee importer...

There are sayings in the English language that employ literal terms but have no literal meaning. For example, when we describe something as “black and white” we mean it’s obvious, not that there’s literally a black object and a white object.  When we say something’s “open and shut” we’re suggesting it’s inarguable, not that anything is literally open and shut – which, when you think about it, is physically impossible.

It’s the sam...

When people talk about their business, there are a number of sentences that raise the red flag of skepticism.

“Let me explain this as simply as I can” usually means you walk away scratching your head saying “Wait, what?”

“Nobody’s ever done anything like this” is typically the precursor to a business pitch you’ve already heard twice this month.

And then there’s this one – “I’m not in it for the money.” Pretty much every business...

I’m sure you’re aware of the many lists that New Orleans finds itself at the top or bottom of. For many years we’ve heard we’re near the top of the list for violent crime. At the same time we’re near the top of the list for best places to start a business. We’re near the bottom of the list of per capita income. And near the top of the list of dollars gambled on professional sports.

Some of these lists have dubious veracity - and t...

If you could sell a product every person on earth wants, you’d have a winning business. Right? So - other than a phone upgrade - what does nearly every single person on earth want?

Love. And happiness.

That’s the product platforms like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and other online dating services are selling.

According to the latest numbers out there, 5% of people on Hinge find a partner. It’s about 13% on Bumble. Tinder leads the pac...

New Orleans is a city of mysteries. Tourists, fascinated by ghosts and grandeur, learn about them on French Quarter walking tours. For those of us who live here, there are other mysteries. Like, “Why am I paying so much in property tax and my street still has massive potholes?”

Here’s another New Orleans mystery that may have crossed your mind - when you’re driving down Tchoupitoulas Street. “What goes on behind that floodwall?” T...

If you Google “demolition videos” you’ll find a seemingly unlimited number of videos of commercial buildings being imploded, and bulldozers mowing down houses.

99% of these videos are posted with gleeful pride. They’re testament to growth and progress. Wiping old buildings off the face of the earth to make way for newer, bigger, and better buildings.

Most cities in America regard this kind of change as positive. That is not how w...

Back in 1923, a guy in Norfolk Virginia called T. Parker Host founded a company. He called it, T. Parker Host.

100 years later, in 2023, the company relocated the bulk of their operations to Jefferson Parish to what used to be known as The Avondale Shipyards and re-named it, Avondale Global Gateway.

The new name is no exaggeration. It is now, in fact, a global gateway. The facility is set up kind of like a food court, with indivi...

Perception and reality can sometimes be two different things. When it comes to money, that can be a problem.

You’ve probably had this happen: you’re thinking you’ve had a pretty good month, then you get your credit card bill and you get an unpleasant surprise. Somehow, you’d totally forgotten this was the month the dishwasher broke, you had to take your dog to the emergency vet, and you’re not doing nearly as well financially as y...

Every creature on earth is concerned with his or her appearance.

I use the pronouns “his” or “her” intentionally, because in most species this attention to appearance is connected to attracting a mate for procreation. 

For the human species, things are different.

Our interest in our appearance doesn’t need to be connected to mating, or even dating. It can be a form of artistic or self-expression. And there are whole industries -...

There’s more to life than money. That’s true. In some circles it’s become fashionable to talk about the goal of business as being about more than single-mindedly making money. Ok, that’s true too. But it’s worth noting that although money can’t buy you happiness, poverty can’t buy you anything.

I stole that witty observation from a meme on Facebook, but it does point up a basic truth: whatever else you’re trying to achieve, you ca...

For a good deal of human history, if you wanted something done you had to do it yourself.

As societies became more stratified, we developed division of labor. Today, things are so specialized people over 60 comment this current generation can’t do anything for themselves.

Despite the fact that kids are writing code that powers the platforms these commenters are posting on, they nonetheless grumble that kids can’t read cursive. An...

If you’d been living in the 1800’s you might have found yourself sitting at a lunch table asking your friends, “What are y’all talking about? What is “tennis”?”

Today you’re more likely to ask, “What is pickleball?”

Pickleball

Like tennis, pickleball is played on a court with a net. The ball is a kind of wiffleball. And instead of a racket, a pickleball bat looks like a big ping-pong bat.

Pickleball is, reportedly, the world’s ...

We hear a lot about “polarization” these days. And for good reason. It impacts all of us.

There are two types of polarization: political and financial. You can probably make a case they’re related, but we’re talking about the financial variety.

Most conversations about financial polarization tend to take the same shape. They begin with the observation that more wealth is becoming concentrated in fewer hands. Among the reasons, th...

If you lived in New Orleans between 1953 and 2021, you might remember Baker Maid Fruitcake. It was made here, and in its earlier years was hugely popular.

But tastes change. Somewhere along the line fruitcake became relegated mostly to the holidays. 

In 2009, when Greg Sorensen took over his family business as its 4th generation co-owner, he reasoned if they’re going to make cakes for special occasions, why make a cake people eat...

If anything good came out of the Covid 19 pandemic it was the advent of remote working. For some people that means they now work from their dining room table, or spend a chunk of their work day at a coffee shop.

Other people have taken the opportunity to move out of expensive big cities to places not known for advancing careers. For example, over the pandemic the beaches around Seaside and Panama City Florida grew by some 14,000 n...

Anybody can have a good idea for a business. I’ve already had a couple this morning: Ice that stays frozen longer in iced coffee. And a real-time updating system from the doctor’s office that tells you they’re running an hour late.

They might both be good ideas. But there’s a big difference between a good business idea, and a good business. That difference is execution. Even in a world increasingly influenced by AI and data system...

Humans are social animals. We like to hang out and talk.

We could, conceivably, create spaces where we could go, solely to talk to other people. But the way our society is structured, everything has to be paid for. Would people pay to go to a place just to talk to each other? Maybe. But that’s not what happens.

What happens is, we socialize with each other while doing an activity we’re prepared to pay for. Like eating. Drinking. ...

Most animal species go through a juvenile developmental stage where they play with each other. Think, puppies and kittens.

Human beings are different. We don’t grow out of playing. We come up with myriad ways for people of all ages to enjoy themselves.

Here in New Orleans there’s a whole industry devoted to creating fun things for adults to do. Sometimes it’s in the guise of work as part of a convention, and other times it’s simp...