Mardi Gras Parties On Despite Economy

To shoppers like Nikki Richardson, spending money on throws isn't throwing money away.

“A lot of people spend a lot of money on Christmas and other things and Mardi Gras is our holiday,” says Richardson. Richardson says she's spending a couple hundred bucks on Mardi Gras paraphernalia. That's good news for store owner Stephen Toomey. He says sales have been so strong; they've had to hire extra help.

“In our store alone we've hired we've hired 50 to 60 people I mean that's a real plus,” says Toomey. Budget cutbacks across the country don't mean costume designer Sandra Oldham is cutting back at all.

“I'm as busy as I can possibly get this time of year,” says the owner of Bienville Costumes. “It's just ongoing usually here until 9:30 or 10 at night.” Oldham says she has enough orders to keep her busy well beyond Fat Tuesday.

Members of most carnival associations say the only problems they've had are finding trucks to pull their floats. GMC, which has provided the trucks for the past two decades, put the brakes on them this year. MAMGA spokesman Walt Dickerson says some people may cut back on how much they spend out of their own pockets.

“Now some members may have cut in some areas maybe cut the number of tables they purchase or whatever the case may be,” says Dickerson.