Clothes Horse ad from 1979 – four locations! #NOLAshopping

Clothes Horse was a womens clothing chain.

Ad for Clothes Horse from 14-February-1979, in the Loyola Maroon

Clothes Horse

In 1979, Clothes Horse operated four locations in New Orleans. You shopped at Clothes Horse in Uptown Square (Broadway and River Road), The Plaza at Lake Forest (in Da East), and Village Aurora. My memories of Clothes Horse are from the Metairie location at Clearview Shopping Center.

Clearview

Lakeside Shopping Center was the first mall in Metairie, opening in 1960. Clearview followed in 1969. The anchor stores were Maison Blanche on the west side and Sears on the opposite end. While Gus Mayer was not as large as those two stores, the womens store at the center entrance was incredibly popular. Clearview offered a number of smaller boutiques and specialty stores, ranging from Clothes Horse to Radio Shack. Katz and Besthoff Drugstores operated a soda fountain in their Clearview store.

Selling Men’s Clothing

I worked at Maison Blanche Clearview, from 1977 to 1980. My experience at the store motivated me to write Maison Blanche Department Stores. Working at the three-story department store was so much fun, particularly since the ratio of female to male employees was so skewed. It was tough some days to get myself up off the front porch of my fraternity’s house in Gentilly and get myself out to Metairie. Once there, though, even the slow nights were enjoyable. There weren’t many food choices in the mall at that time. We would grab something at K&B, or the A&G Cafeteria. Those limited options meant the logical choice was often to eat at home.

Those slow nights offered the opportunity to walk down the mall and meet others. Clothes Horse was not one one of the stores I stopped in regularly. The store catered to young adult women. I could go in and say, I’m shopping for a present for my sister, but otherwise, it’s not like I’d ever be a regular customer. I appreciated that the store drew in the sort of clientele that interested twenty-year old me.

Learn More!

Come on out to Art In The Bend this Saturday, March 9th, and we can chat about MB, Krauss, Clearview, and a whole lot of other topics, as you peruse and buy my books!

Liked it? Take a second to support NOLA History Guy on Patreon!