Angelo Brocato Italian Ice Cream Parlor

 

Getting a business re-opened after a disaster is just one step in the long road to recovery. Arthur Brocato was forced to close his family business, Angelo Brocato Italian Ice Cream Parlor, as a result of Hurricane Katrina. “We had five feet of flood water in the buildings and our equipment and facilities were destroyed. We were out of business for thirteen months,” he remembers.

 

Once Arthur got his shop back in partially-running order there were still many hurdles facing his business.  Arthur said, “It was a struggle at the very beginning to start up again. When we opened, we didn’t have enough help and we were only able to open five days a week for limited hours.”

 

Due to the lack of resources, Arthur had to modify his business model and focus exclusively on retail operations. “One of the small bakeries in the Marigny would offer us space on the days they weren’t working. We would bake cookies and package them two days a week. It was very limited, but it was important just to have our products and our name still out there.”

 

“It took five years to get stabilized and about seven years to be back to the way we were before,” said Arthur.  Despite the circumstances, he stayed positive. “You have to be optimistic, you have to continue to push on, you can’t just let a situation happen. It’s not the end.”

 

Hurricane Katrina also brought about an important realization in the community about Brocato’s and other local businesses. “It [Katrina] made people in this area more aware and more appreciative of the unique businesses and culture that we have. And not just the people here in the area; it also created an appreciation of New Orleans culture in the rest of the country,” Arthur says.

 

Despite the hardships, Arthur never considered closing Brocato's permanently. Arthur is a third generation New Orleanian and his family has been living here for over 100 years. Arthur says, “We have been here all our lives, my ancestors came from Sicily, they settled here in New Orleans because there was an Italian community here. They built the name and reputation for over a hundred years so it very difficult to say, 'See you later!'"