Katrina and some of the rats it flooded out onto the streets of the Big Easy tried and failed to make the Magic Masters store in the Riverwalk disappear. More than one hundred stores in the New Orleans Riverwalk marketplace escaped the rising flood waters. Riverwalk is located between the Hilton Hotel and the Convention Center. Yes, that is the same Convention Center seen so often on TV during the networks coverage. Hundreds, if not thousands, of evacuees lived in and around this structure until it was shut down for safety reasons. The Riverwalk stores escaped water damage as it is located along the banks of the Mississippi, one of the higher locations in a city that is below sea-level in most areas. We escaped the water but not the “rats.” The “rats” I am referring to were the few groups of persons that took advantage of the disaster situation and began looting and vandalizing stores in this area. We have all seen the pictures. Every store in Riverwalk was looted or vandalized, with smashed windows and ransacked interiors. Magic Masters does not have a big glass window in front, as everyone who has visited us remembers. Like all of our stores, it has a wide open front, so guests can stroll in and out conveniently. When we close, a metal security gate is put in place. When the looters reached our store, with no glass to shatter for entry, they bent the metal gate apart at the center for entry! I wonder how many people that took…? Card, coin and other effects were stolen, including a coin display on the wall, which instead of breaking the glass to get to the coins, they ripped the entire case off the wall and left with the case and its contents. The good news! Those of you that have visited any of our stores, know that the theme and décor in all of them is that of a magicians private library or den. In addition to all of the books that we sell, there are over a hundred old magic books on the shelves to add ambience to the library theme. Hundreds of books, both new and old, some collector editions, were left untouched. Not one book was taken! It would appear that the looters were not into this “reading stuff.” I’ve never seen a literate rat either! Well, thats over and both the Riverwalk and the stores in it, have been cleaned up, restocked and we invite you to stop by. The hours have changed a bit, so give us a call on the day you will be stopping by and we will be glad to tell you what hours we will be open. We want to join the staff of the New Orleans Magic Masters to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Telephone: 770-808-7000
Website: http://www.magicmasters.com/