Q&A: The woman behind Fleurty Girl discusses the brand’s recent expansion

Photos courtesy Lauren Haydel.

New Orleans retailer Fleurty Girl recently announced plans to open a long-awaited Baton Rouge location. Their ninth store will open this summer at 3622 Government St. in Baton Rouge’s Mid-City neighborhood. CityBusiness recently talked with Lauren Haydel, the woman behind Fleurty Girl, about the new location, her favorite piece of (controversial) Fleurty Girl merchandise and the benefits of being married to a co-owner of another iconic New Orleans business.

What made you decide to open this new location?

People have been asking us to come to Baton Rouge for years, and the timing just worked out. My three children will be at LSU this fall, and I found this amazing building that is completely perfect and already built out and move in ready for us. So, it was like all the stars aligned; it was like, “OK, it’s time.”

My daughter is studying business entrepreneurship at LSU, and she plans to work for the business when she graduates, so now there will be a store there she can work at [after the] end of school. It all kind of lent itself to the perfect scenario.

Are you planning any special products for the new location?

Yes, so just like our store in Bay St. Louis we do have some local merchandise that we don’t carry at other locations. Obviously, we’ll have even more ‘Purple and Gold’ at this location. It will have a good selection that will only be available at the Baton Rouge Fleurty Girl.

Do you have plans for any other new locations in the future?

Every store is my last store. We opened in Bay St. Louis in 2020 and that was going to be the last one, and then with all my kids going to LSU and this building, it was just like, “OK, one more.” But I really think this puts us at our full operating capacity. I don’t think we could handle one more, but you never know.

What was it like opening the Bay St. Louis store in 2020 during the pandemic?

The pandemic was actually a good time to open in Bay St. Louis because restrictions there were not as tight as New Orleans, so a lot of people were going to Bay St. Louis. Life felt more normal there. We actually saw a decline in sales after COVID in Bay St. Louis because people were getting back to their normal life, and they weren’t spending time out there.

How did the pandemic affect the existing stores in New Orleans?

It was a struggle in New Orleans because restrictions were so tight, especially being in the French Quarter with a mask mandate and people are coming in intoxicated and we’re having to tell them to put on a mask. You can imagine how that went. So, it was really hard on us. We were following the law and the compliance wasn’t always there with people coming in the store. It was really tough.

What store was hardest hit?

It was the airport store that suffered the most. People weren’t going anywhere. We were open for four months before we had to close with COVID. Having eight stores, it’s crazy, there’s always one that kind of keeps everything afloat…you lean on each other and that’s what you want, a good diversification. We have a good mix of touristic stores and local neighborhood shops, so they all balance each other out.

Has inflation and the current changes in the economy affected your business?

People are traveling — I think they’re making that the priority because they weren’t able to do it for so long. So, the airport, French Quarter and Magazine Street are doing well. Their growth is higher than the neighborhood stores right now. It ebbs and flows, but people are spending money on travel. They’re out and they’re shopping, which is good. The neighborhood stores aren’t seeing as much of an increase year over year, as those locations are, but during the pandemic they were the ones that were higher.

What role does social media play in your business?

Social media is an integral part of keeping our business growing and keeping us connected with our customers. It’s taking more time to get the content — it’s so video heavy now. We have to dedicate more time and resources to making sure we have good content. It’s a good thing because it helps us to really showcase what we’ve got going on [and] what we’re trying to share with customers as far as products.

People don’t always pick up the phone to see what your hours are for that day, they will DM you on Instagram or Facebook, so you’ve got to be on it. It definitely takes a good, strong team.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced since opening Fleurty Girl?

Just figuring it out. OK, we have one store, how do we do it? I’ve been very, very lucky with an amazing staff. Hands down, that’s the secret to success. Hire good people, take good care of them and take good care of your customers.

What led you to start Fleurty Girl?

I wanted to create a T-shirt line for women that celebrated New Orleans. In 2009 you didn’t really have lots of shirts made or geared toward women. If you wanted to wear something to a Saints game or an LSU game you would have a guys shirt. So, my vision was V-necks and babydoll tees…it was something at the time that didn’t exist.

How has the brand expanded since then?

We started with T-shirts — that was the origin of our brand — and then we sold earrings to go with the T-shirts, and then we sold gifts. It just sort of evolved. Once the brand took off people were coming into the store saying, “Hey, I make this candle, do you want to sell my candle?” So, we started working with locals, carrying their products as well. Now we sell everything. We sell hangover patches. We sell oven mitts and dishtowels, it’s crazy. We sell stuff to get the crawfish smell off your hands — there’s just no limit.

How do you create the right balance with your inventory in each store?

You want to have unique stuff that they can’t get at other stores, that sets you apart. A lot of times you’ll see the same stuff all over town, and we want to have those exclusive items you can only get at Fleurty Girl.

What’s your favorite item that Fleurty Girl has ever carried?

After we were in the legal dispute over the “Who Dat” phrase, I was unable to print “Who Dat” any longer, and I was very upset by that. So, my favorite product we ever carried was my revenge shirt. I printed “Who Dat” backwards on a T-shirt, so that when you took a selfie it said “Who Dat” in your selfie.

We only printed one run of those. My lawyer was like, “Lauren, leave it alone.” But that was my favorite, because that’s what we do — we have fun with things and we make jokes. Just like when we announced the store and said we were stuck in Baton Rouge traffic. We like to poke fun at ourselves and not take ourselves too seriously. That’s kind of who we are as a brand.

What is your busiest time of year?

Mardi Gras. We have to triple our staff.

So, it’s bigger than Christmas?

Completely bigger than Christmas. I’ve been to gift markets and people are like, “Man, if I could have another Christmas,” and I’m thinking to myself, “I guess I’m lucky, I get to have something bigger than Christmas and Christmas.”

My husband is a third-generation co-owner of Haydel’s Bakery in New Orleans, so he bakes king cakes [during Mardi Gras]. That’s another reason why it works, we’re both just going crazy at the same time. It’s nice to be with somebody who is going through it just like you.

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