Landmark Status: Puglia’s Sporting Goods

Since Hurricane Katrina, architectural preservationists and urban planners have expressed concern about the future some of New Orleans’ most famous places.

This article is the first in a series updating the status of these landmark locations and sharing the stories of the people whose lives have been profoundly affected.

Like many in the New Orleans area, Kyle Bonner and Jimmy Castalignetti have been uprooted. Both high school sophomores, the two are concerned about when, if ever, they will be able to return to a place they have spent a great deal of their youth: Puglia’s Sporting Goods.

Castalignetti and Bonner, like many of their peers, consider the sporting goods store a home away from home during the Mardi Gras season in Metairie. However, the recent events of hurricane Katrina have disrupted a time-honored tradition of gathering to drink Daiquiris in the store’s parking lot. And with damage to the store closing it for several months, the students are uncertain about when they will be able to return.

“We don’t know what’s gonna happen now,” Bonner shared as he stood in the Puglia’s parking lot in a soft rain. “Where we gonna watch the parades, bra?”

Castalignetti added, “That’s like it, you know? You chill here, you throw beads in the shark’s mouth, you see your friends. I don’t know man.”

For both, the commute from the Chateau portion of Kenner was worth the experience to see famous parades like Caesar and Toth. More important, however, was the impact the high school students had on the local Daiquiri economy.

Remarks Castalignetti, “These [daiquiri] guys really need us. How do they make a living now?”

According to the Metairie Chamber of Commerce, high school students account for an overwhelming percentage of the crucial underage drinking market.

“Let’s face it,” remarked the Chamber’s vice-president, Kenny Tomedour, “Carnival’s going to be tight this year, if it happens at all. Without the Puglia’s crowd, Metairie Gras just won’t be the same.”

The two boys are most afraid that Jefferson Parish officials will fail to comprehend the scope of their loss.

“They don’t get it,” Bonner explained, “We can’t go down to Daiquiri’s and Cremes. And down by Dorignaq’s? That’s, like, totally dead-even during Caesar.”

For now, the boys wait in the cool fall mist and wonder what will become of their beloved tradition. “Who knows,” said Bonner,” that shark’s mouth might be empty all year. Maybe for the rest of its life.”