Metairie might not be that cool, but it did have one gem: Lakeside News, a newsstand from a different era across from Lakeside Mall. The store closed yesterday after 40 years of operation, the owner citing rising rent and waning interest in print.
For people who grew up in Metairie (myself included), going to Morning Call, the coffee and beignet place next door, (which some would argue is better than the more known beignet purveyor, Cafe Du Monde) and then strolling through Lakeside News was a tradition. What made the store, signaled by its bright yellow marquee and walls and walls of magazines and newspapers, a gem was its surprisingly vast inventory: you could get obscure publications like indie fashion mag V and your typical grocery store check-out line rags, the New York Times and dailies from all over the world, plus so much more. In a day when online outlets like Pitchfork are selling print editions, and Instagrammable mags like Kinfolk exist, it's surprising that Lakeside News wasn't more of a draw for the printophiles in the city.
Without Lakeside News, Metairie dwellers looking for rare publications have to resort to a chain: the Veterans Highway Barnes & Nobles.
· The Results Are in: Metairie Will Never Be Cool [Curbed NOLA]
· Lakeside News to close in September after 40 years [NOLA.com]