Antique Village sees strong holiday sales, celebrates return since flood

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Working on Christmas Eve may be a nuisance for many people, but for store owners in the Denham Springs Antique Village, being open is a bit of a celebration.

The owners of Saint Charles Place in Denham Springs hung an “open” flag outside their store.

“It’s just been fantastic, we couldn’t ask for better,” said Sandy Cascio, one of the store owners.

Just over two years ago, after the 2016 flood, the streets of Antique Village were covered with debris. Cascio and her business partners had to move down the street to a new location after losing all their inventory. “It gives me chills because we’re all back,” Cascio said. “The customers are great. People are starting to come back and really be here.”

Two years later, every business that intended to reopen in the district is back up and running, and they are seeing strong sales once again. “It has been a change from last year,” said Laura Dunlap, owner of The Bee’s Knees. “I feel like people were still rebuilding and they were focused on things for their homes, but it’s been a wonderful Christmas and sales have been up for us.”

Mackenzie Byrd grew up in Denham Springs and started working at Addiction Boutique this summer. She says the return of the village has made the community stronger as a whole. “It’s always nice to see a business grow, and then it’s nice for morale in our area after suffering something like the flood.”

While many of the stores opened with shortened hours on Christmas Eve, the majority of them will close Christmas Day.

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