The Bayou Sports Shop

The Bayou Sports Shop Mission Statement:

“Our dream for the Bayou Sports Shop is not to be just another sports retail shop, but more a testament to the true New Orleans Sports Fan…and their passion for our local teams and our local culture”.

A little bit about us…and ”The Bayou Sports Shop family”

The Bayou Sports Shop was opened by myself and my husband (Shannon and Greg) on December 1st 2007. This shop was a dream of ours for a long time and it felt great to make that dream a reality. We were both born in New Orleans and were “raised right” as loyal fans of our New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers.  We became New Orleans Hornets fans after Katrina took them away for a bit and we welcomed them home with open arms. We are currently season ticket holders for our Hornets and our New Orleans Saints. One day we may be lucky enough to have LSU season tickets. Our 12 year old daughter Skyler (yes…just like Skyler Green of our LSU Tigers of old and our New Orleans Saints of new) is one of the most vocal Hornets fans you will ever meet. Listen for her at your next Hornets game yelling: “Bee-Fence…louder….Bee-Fence… louder”. Honestly…we don’t know where she gets it from? Okay, I’ll confess…if you have ever been near Section 138, in the Superdome for a Saints game you may hear me or see my husband. I’m the obnoxiously loud red head and my husband is the nice guy sitting next to me, looking embarrassed. I make no apologies because CROWD NOISE MATTERS!

Why we made this leap of faith?

One of the reasons we decided to open The Bayou Sports Shop was the lack of unique apparel and gifts available to us in our New Orleans area. The Westbank is home to lots of loyal fans (like us) who want the convenience of shopping local but had no other option but to travel across the river. I felt I could open a Sports Shop that provided the same authentic team apparel as the other shops, but offer more unique gift selections and more local merchandise. So I started making a “oneday” plan to open The Bayou Sports Shop. Just to get some feedback on my idea, I started a business plan and began working on developing it. I was discouraged many times that it wouldn’t work, however my husband’s faith in The Bayou Sports Shop never wavered. Then in June of 2007, I was informed that my job was being relocated to Alabama. We never considered moving away from our home. So I started putting my plan into fast-forward motion. Talk about scary! I had until December 2007 to make it happen, so there wasn’t much time to panic really. I sold some of our 401K investments, lived on severance pay for a bit and lost plenty of sleep but we are blessed that it all worked out in the end. Our customers thank us daily for taking the chance on this shop.

So then what?

Since December of 2007, we have been busting our tails to make it work. It’s a labor of love.
My hubby still works his “day job” but handles the hard labor of the business and I work the shop and handle the day to day operations. Our families have helped and supported us the whole way and we couldn’t have done it without them. “Aunt Sheila” is our right hand, and “Uncle Boo-Boo” is our rock. Marty watches over us with a sly sense of humor and The Hewitt, Behler, Simon, Donahue, Murphy, Gardner & Ockman families advertise for us and  are some of our best customers (which is by the way…how we stay in business). I also had the best cheerleaders a girl could ask for in my friends.  My “Ya-Ya’s” supported me everyday.  Tiffany was like a accounting angel sent from above and Heather has inspired me to never accept defeat and I am forever in her debt for showing me what seeing “the BIG picture” really means.  Logen is my teen queen and has been the most dependable 15 year old I have ever known. Lastly, We also owe our existence to Mike & Brandie Murphy, who are like family to us. They have labored alongside us, in every way imaginable to make the Bayou Sports Shop a reality, without ever asking for anything in return. We are so blessed to have friends and family who love us so much. We are open for business because of them.

Enough about us…What is The Bayou Sports Shop?

The Bayou Sports Shop is a unique sports shop, located in Terrytown Louisiana. We provide authentic Nike LSU apparel, Reebok Saints apparel, Adidas Hornets apparel and local Louisiana merchandise and gifts for every fan in the family.

Our merchandise is displayed in a unique “Bayou” setting and we even showcase a handmade pirogue in the store. We also use family antiques and art as well as autographed items to decorate our store. After all… we are fans too. Along with the authentic team apparel, we also carry local gifts you may not find anywhere else. We make every effort possible to find unusual team merchandise from licensed sports vendors and we work hard to display all these items in a clean, creative retail sports shop with the most personal customer care attainable. What sets our business apart from the rest is our level of customer care, the “authentic” quality of goods provided and the accessibility of our merchandise to our customers. Our website will be an extension of our bricks and mortar location…delivering our home town appeal to local fans around the world.

Over the past year, we have developed a very loyal customer base. Our regular customers stop by at least once a month to say hi and talk about the latest sporting development (you know who you are). It’s an amazing thing to us, to see how much they care about our success as a business. Our customer loyalty is what keeps us in business and we appreciate them greatly.

Greg and I would love for you to stop by and say hello anytime…

We “Do the Bayou” all year…not just during football season.

Shannon and Greg Ockman
Owners and insane operators of:
The Bayou Sports Shop
900 Terry Pkwy #180
Terrytown, LA 70056