SHOPPING LOCALLY
Re: “Unexpected Fortune: An ill wind creates new opportunities,” Home column, by Bonnie Warren. December 2006 issue.

I am a native New Orleanian and enjoy New Orleans Magazine tremendously. I was appalled to see the following statement [in the Home column]: “I immediately [after the mortgage closing] got on a plane and went to San Francisco where I purchased everything we needed to move in.”

Do Colleen Monahan and Tom Lavelle not know of the economic condition of New Orleans? I am happy that this couple is affluent enough to go to San Francisco to buy their furniture and accessories. But thank God they are in a minority in the City. Would New Orleans ever come back if we did not shop locally?
Anthony J. Clesi, Jr.
New Orleans

Ms. Monahan responds accordingly:
Please tell your readers that I did buy many things for my new home here in New Orleans, like the antique wedding quilt and dining room table and chairs [shown in the photo spread] as well as many other wonderful things from a secondhand antique dealer in Metairie. The reason that I went back to San Francisco to buy things was the wait  here for furniture delivery was 9-12 weeks, and I needed a bed to sleep in sooner than that.

… I spent a lot of money here and at least I came back home, bought an expensive home in Metairie, and am also keeping my home in Lakeview, which I plan on rebuilding in the next couple of years ...


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