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How Burnell & Lillie Cotlon Started Makin' Groceries In The Lower 9th Ward

WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio | By Thomas Walsh
Published August 11, 2015 at 6:00 AM EDT
Lillie Cotlon, left, encouraged her son, Burnell, to quit his job at Family Dollar and start his own business in their neighborhood.
StoryCorps
Lillie Cotlon, left, encouraged her son, Burnell, to quit his job at Family Dollar and start his own business in their neighborhood.

NewOrleanians encountered one obstacle after another as they rebuilt their city after Katrina. Urban food access became a problem for many neighborhoods, especially those with low income.

Lower 9th Ward residentBurnellCotlan saw this problem troubling his community, sohe built The Lower 9th Ward Market. His mother, Lillie, helped him along the way. 

Click here to listen to their story.

As they continue to grow the store, Burnell and Lillie plan to install services that are unavailable in the Lower 9th Ward — like a laundromat and notary — on the second floor of their building. This interview was recorded atStoryCorps’mobile studio in New Orleans.

Copyright 2015 WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio
Louisiana News
Thomas Walsh
Thomas Walsh is an independent radio producer for WWNO. Each week he works to produce new editions of Louisiana Eats and All Things New Orleans, as well as Notes From New Orleans, The Farmer's Market Minute, and The Green Minute. Outside WWNO, Thomas is a volunteer disc jockey for WTUL, where he hosts a weekly live four-hour program broadcasting twentieth century classical music. Thomas has four years experience in audio engineering, and a BA from Trinity University in San Antonio where he double majored in communications and philosophy. Someday he will give away his entire collection of Grateful Dead concerts, which has swelled to unnecessary proportions in recent years.
See stories by Thomas Walsh