Carola Lillie Hartley
Publisher and Contributing Writer
Most everyone who lived in Opelousas during the last century remembers Abdalla’s. It was one of best places to shop in this area of the state. What started out as a humble establishment with small quarters in 1895 grew to be one of the largest and most outstanding firms of its kind in South Louisiana.
How It All Began
In 1895, George Abdalla (1865-1951), with his wife Jasmine (1884-1976), left New Orleans and moved to St. Landry Parish. It was in Washington that he started his business as a “cart peddler”, traveling around the area selling clothing and other merchandise. It wasn’t long before he moved to Opelousas, where the railroad made the town a more desirable place to do business.
New Store in Opelousas
As one century came to an end and a new one began, George and Jasmine opened their own store on the corner of Landry and Court streets in downtown Opelousas. By 1910 as the store was doing so well they put the property up for sale and was looking for a better location for their business. Sometime after that, Abdalla moved the business to a building on Main Street, just opposite the Sandoz Opera House (on the property where the FaKouri building stands today).
Abdalla Purchases Opera House
After three years of continuous growth, the store again needed more room. In 1913 when Leonce Sandoz offered his Opera House property on Main Street for sale, George purchased it to use for the business.
After the purchase George had the old building completely remodeled, repainted and lowered. By June of that year, the store business was moved to the lower floor, and the Opera House operated again on the upper floor. The Abdalla family residence was also located in that building for a short time, until George purchased a house on Bellevue Street in 1920.
At first, Abdalla kept the Sandoz Opera House in business, with various managers including Morgan Sandoz, Nicholas Fadaol and David Hollier. In early 1914, for a short time the name was changed to the Opelousas Opera House, with George Abdalla himself as the manager. That opera house business continued for only a short time, closing sometime after 1916 when George realized he needed more space for his budding business. After that time the Abdalla business used all of the opera house building for retail and storage space.
In 1921, Abdalla enlarged the old frame opera house building — adding 40 feet — and added bricks to the facade. He opened the new addition in August of that year.
A New Abdalla Store Building
On January 1, 1925, the old Sandoz Opera House that was the Abdalla’s Store since 1913, was demolished. Later that month, George’s son Anthony Abdalla announced E. Leo Ball, a graduate of Boston Tech and one of the leading architects of Central Louisiana was selected to supervise the erection of the new Abdalla’s Department Store building. The contract for construction of the new building was awarded to Homer Ventre.
After years of planning and construction work, on Monday, November 22, 1926 the new Abdalla’s store opened. On Monday, Sept. 30, 1929, Abdalla’s opened their Bellevue Street Shoe Department Annex. In 1930 the store celebrated a new mezzanine addition as well as the opening of the second floor of the building for sale purposes. In 1935 a third story was added to the Abdalla building in Opelousas, making it one of the largest department stores in the area. And it continued to prosper.
The Abdalla Family
George and Jasmine Abdalla had seven children: Anthony, Jacob, Edward, John, James, Herbert and Rose (McKnight). They all had some connection to the Abdalla businesses through the years. Beside the Opelousas department store, the Abdalla family members were involved in a number of other businesses. Over the years the family had three other Abdalla stores in Lafayette plus a clothing store they named Brothers’ on the Boulevard, and the Naturalizer Shoe Store in Lafayette. They had a department store in New Iberia. They owned a real estate company called Jasmine Realty, Inc. There was also Abdalla’s Furniture and J. P. Abdallas in Opelousas.
In 1932 George Abdalla owned the hotel on Bellevue Street, near his department store. In about 1954 when Abdalla’s needed more room to expand, the old hotel was sold and moved off the property. It was also in 1932 that George and family opened the Smart Shop store (later called Abdalla’s, Inc. of Lafayette) on Jefferson Street in Lafayette. In 1936 the family opened Abdalla’s of New Iberia.
In 1946 Abdalla’s opened an appliance store in the old Parish Bank and Trust Company building on the corner of Court and Landry streets (where Java Square is located today). That store remained opened until November 24, 1947 when Abdalla’s Furniture Store, managed by Jake Abdalla, was opened in a new building on the old Bloch Corner (the northwest corner of Main and Bellevue streets.) That was an exciting day in downtown Opelousas as crowds of people gathered on the streets for the Grand Opening celebration.
When Winsberg Department Store, located on the southwest corner of Main and Landry streets in Opelousas (King’s Corner), closed its doors In 1952, the Winsberg family sold their interest in the business to the Abdalla family of Opelousas. The Abdallas continued to operate Winsberg’s for some years, with J. P. “Jimmy” Abdalla as the manager. In September of 1965, Abdalla closed Winsberg’s doors for the last time. The merchandise that remained, following a gigantic closing sale, was moved to the new J. P. Abdalla Fashion Mart, located on Main Street in Opelousas.
In 1953 a fire almost destroyed the Abdalla’s Department Store in downtown Opelousas. The building was not completely destroyed, but required a major “rebuild,” and continued in business. However, as time marched on and shopping trends changed, eventually all the stores closed including the original Abdalla’s founded so long ago by George and Jasmine in downtown Opelousas. Some members of the Abdalla family sold the Opelousas store to attorney Louis Viviano in January of 1985.
Opelousas Abdalla’s closed on February 20, 1985 and after extensive interior remodeling, was reopened by the new owners on March 30th. Viviano ran the business for a short time, with a grand opening in August of that year. But the business did not survive and eventually it was permanently closed on September 27, 1986. According to newspaper accounts, Viviano stated the store was closed for a number of reasons including lack of local support, plus a lawsuit filed by some members of the Abdalla family, claiming Viviano had no right to use the Abdalla name, made it difficult to do business. Since that time the old Abdalla’s building has remained vacant on Main Street in downtown Opelousas.
George, Jasmine and the entire Abdalla family did so much not just for Opelousas, but for all of Acadiana. When their stores closed, the commercial district in downtown Opelousas, and other area towns, was forever changed.
