[StBernard] New Chalmette Lowe's Brings Jobs, Business

[Westley Annis]

New Chalmette Lowe's Brings Jobs, Business
Home Improvement Store Opens In St. Bernard Parish

CHALMETTE, La. -- Arden Espinosa left her St. Bernard Parish home and moved
to Florida after Hurricane Katrina. But because of the new Lowe's Home
Improvement store in Chalmette, she's back home as an employee of the store.

"I am finally finally home after that period of time, but I spent three
years at the store in Pensacola," Espinosa said.

Espinosa is one of nearly 70 St. Bernard residents to land a job at the new
store. The home improvement giant transferred about 40 workers from other
local stores.

"We roughly had about a thousand applications," said Lowe's spokesman Curtis
Orgeron.

The 117,000 square-foot building on Judge Perez Drive offers many in the
area hope and encouragement.

"I'm excited. I'm pumped up a lot and think it's going to do great here in
Chalmette," Orgeron said.

Some residnets are worried about the location of the new store, saying it
competes with a nearby Home Depot.

"I've been worried and I've been saying that ever since I noticed they
started building this here, that they would split the business 50-50 and
both of them go out of business," resident Scott Bringol said. "Again, I
hope that's not the case."

Lowe's management says that won't happen, and they build the store there
with the belief that the area will flourish.

The new Lowe's has been welcoming customers since last week, but it has
special events planned for its grand opening Thursday.