HOW WE STARTED - Algiers Point Oyster Company started as a little craft project during the Covid lockdown of 2020. My New Orleans gifts shop was temporarily closed, the entire city had shut down, and there were no tourists - leaving my little shop a sad and lonely little place. I had a pile of oyster shells in my backyard, a cabinet of art supplies, and a seemingly endless amount of time. I decided to hunker down and make ornaments to cure the boredom! After a week of sitting at the kitchen table, I perfected my technique of embedding tissue-paper-thin images into oysters with adhesive, epoxy and enamel.
ETHICALLY SOURCING OYSTER SHELLS - After I ran out of oyster shells, I sourced shells form local restaurants that would normally throw their used shells in the trash. Here is one of my favorite places to collect shells. Look closely and you will see a baby alligator! I boil my collected oysters in a gumbo pot, soak them in bleach, individually scrub them, and bake them in the oven so here is no yucky stuff left on them.
AND THE REST IS HISTORY! Covid is over (kind of),our gift shop is up and running (in fact we opened a SECOND location ❤ ), and now our oysters are sold all over the United States. We are also partnered with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, in which we donate $1 for every ornament sold.
You can shop our oyster collection here.
