Beau Landry Revives Covington's Downtown With Northshore Mercantile Co.

Beau Landry opened the first Northshore Mercantile Co. storefront on Covington's Columbia Street in 2013 with a simple premise: sell things made by Louisiana craftspeople, at prices regular people could actually afford, in a shop that felt more like a neighbor's living room than a boutique. Thirteen years later, the company operates five stores across the Northshore, from Covington to Mandeville to Slidell, and has become something of a template for how small regional retailers can compete against national chains.

"Everybody told me a general store built around local makers was a nostalgia act, not a real business," Landry said, arranging a display of hand-thrown pottery from a Folsom-based ceramicist. "I think what they missed is that people on the Northshore have been moving here specifically to get away from things that feel mass-produced. We built a store for exactly the customer that was already showing up."

Riding the Northshore's Population Growth

Landry's timing proved fortunate, though he insists it was more instinct than prediction. The Northshore has experienced sustained population growth over the past decade as families relocate from New Orleans and the West Bank seeking more space, better-rated schools, and a slower pace of life, while still commuting across the Causeway or Highway 90 for work. Many of these transplants, Landry found, arrived with disposable income and a strong interest in supporting local businesses and craftspeople rather than defaulting to big-box retail.

Northshore Mercantile's product mix reflects that customer base carefully: Louisiana-made hot sauces and preserves, furniture from small woodworking shops in Folsom and Franklinton, textiles from a weaving cooperative near Hammond, and rotating seasonal goods tied to Northshore festivals and events. Landry personally visits most of the roughly ninety maker-suppliers the company works with, a practice he's maintained even as the company has grown.

"Beau still drives out to my workshop himself instead of sending a buyer," said Colette Reeves, a Folsom furniture maker who has sold through Northshore Mercantile since its second year in business. "He remembers what my kids are up to. That's not typical for a guy running five stores now."

Balancing Growth With a Local Identity

Landry has turned down multiple offers to franchise the Northshore Mercantile concept outside the region, including one inquiry from an investor group interested in opening locations in Baton Rouge and Lafayette. He worries that scaling too far beyond the Northshore's specific culture and maker network would dilute what makes the stores work.

"The moment this becomes about opening the most stores instead of representing this specific region well, I've lost the thread," Landry said. "I'd rather run five great stores here than twenty mediocre ones everywhere."

The company has weathered its share of challenges, including a difficult 2020 that forced Landry to furlough half his staff temporarily and pivot hard into online sales, a channel that now accounts for roughly 15 percent of revenue. He has since rehired beyond pre-pandemic staffing levels and opened his newest location in Slidell in early 2025.

Looking ahead, Landry is developing a small grant program to help emerging Northshore makers cover startup costs like craft fair booth fees and basic equipment, funded by a percentage of each store's monthly sales. "This region gave this business everything it has," he said. "Putting some of that back into the next generation of makers just feels like keeping score honestly."