GRETNA, La. — Since the pandemic began most local businesses have had to learn how to pivot. A west bank restaurant is finding ways to navigate a new challenge that most would say is a good problem to have: social media.
“I just want to amplify the community,” said Brittany Nicholas, creator of the Instagram account What’sPoppinNola. “I want to make sure that our stories are being told and the NOLA Shrimp Box story needed to be told.”
Last month Nicholas created an Instagram reel featuring the NOLA Shrimp Box a Water Ice stand in Gretna. They serve up everything from water ice treats to well-seasoned seafood nachos and hot dogs. It was the loaded shrimp nachos that took Nicholas by surprise, giving her a unique reaction that made the video go viral.
“I really wanted to use my platform to show them that there is more out there,” said Nicholas. “These are real people in our community that we are trying to support but I just didn’t think it was going to be that much that fast.”
Owner of the Shrimp Box, Taja Young says the video brought a ton of new customers.
“There has been a lot of people coming,” said Young. “So, we’ve been trying to triple everything every day since the video because before the video we did have a line and now our regulars are kind of mad at us.”
Young took to social media to let customers know about the new challenges they had begun to face. Short staffing and increased volume of customers.
“We are really big on customer service,” said Young. “We do appreciate everyone that comes to support us, and it is kind of a hassle to come and get something and then have to wait long. So, we do give out waters and when there is a wait, we try to tell them how long it’s going to be.”
Young says the difficult labor market only adds to the problem.
“We do appreciate all of our customers,” said Young. “A lot of people have been understanding.”
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