About Us

 

Our Story

Some stories don't begin with a business plan. Ours began with three neighbors.

Alison, Hollie, and Trish became friends the way the best friendships happen — proximity turned into connection, and connection turned into something that felt like family. A teacher, an AR manager, and a nurse anesthetist don't seem like obvious business partners, but the three of us shared something more important than a common industry: a love for fashion, for community, and for the soul of downtown Lafayette.

When word got out that Genterie was for sale, it wasn't something we had been plotting. Someone mentioned it in passing. We tossed the idea around the way you do with things that sound exciting but unlikely. Then we walked in.

That walk changed everything.

It wasn't the merchandise that got us — though the merchandise is extraordinary. It was the wood posts. The high ceilings. The open brick that has absorbed more than a century of Louisiana life. Genterie has roots that trace back to downtown Lafayette around 1895, when it operated as one of the area's most well-known department stores. We don't know for certain if these are the same walls, but standing inside, it's hard to believe they aren't. You can feel it.

Downtown Lafayette was the real reason we said yes. The buildings, the bricks, the festivals, the parades — there is no place quite like it. It holds history the way few places still do, and we wanted to be part of that. Genterie felt like it belonged here, and honestly, it felt like we did too.

We took over in mid-2025, and what has surprised us most isn't the work — we all still have our careers — it's the stories. Customers come in and tell us they used to shop at Abdalla's. They pick up a Holly Beach 1983 tee and something in them wakes up. They can't always explain it. They just feel it. That's when we understood that the story of Genterie is much bigger than the three of us. We're just the newest chapter.

Every item in this store has been carefully and intentionally selected — pieces you won't find anywhere else in Lafayette. We are one of the only stores in town that brings men's and women's together under one roof, with the same care given to both. We believe great clothes tell their own story. We believe great spaces do too.

Come in sometime. We can't fully explain what Genterie is.

It has to be experienced.

Love,

Alison, Hollie, Trish, and our ever supportive, fashion loving husbands.