For Jacqueline Blanchard and Brandt Cox, 2020 was supposed to be a year to celebrate. The chefs’ unique New Orleans knife and kitchen supply store, Coutelier, was set to mark its fifth anniversary, a milestone most small businesses don’t survive to achieve.
Meanwhile, the Nashville branch of Coutelier was turning two years old, and building a clientele that drove to Music City just to shop there.
Then came the March tornado that ripped the roof off the Nashville store, followed by widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 that hit New Orleans especially hard. Instead of an exciting future, they faced twin disasters that forced Coutelier to shift its focus to online commerce.
But Coutelier is persevering, adding new product lines and relying on a customer network of food professionals and skilled home cooks. Its Web store is chock a block with cool things, and its shops are welcoming guests again.
In the next CulinaryWoman Newsletter, we’ll get a retailers’ point of view of the pandemic and see how Coutelier managed its pivot.
Plus, we’ll explore a cookbook that looks at a little known style of Middle Eastern cuisine, and we’ll meet the CulinaryWoman of the Week.
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