NEW ORLEANS — If you watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade you would have seen Mariah Carey performing while holding a bright red umbrella with thousands of crystals. That umbrella was made by a New Orleans business owner who sells umbrellas on Magazine Street.
Jodell Egbert owns Bella Umbrella and while the parade was a highlight in her career, her focus has now shifted after her business was vandalized.
She first started her business after realizing her passion for collecting vintage umbrellas.
"I had like 200 pieces," she said. "From the 1930's, 40's, and 50's."
She started renting them out.
"You can rent this for $25 for five days," she said.
Eventually Egbert learned to make her own.
"My first umbrellas I handmade were in Sex and the City," she said.
Prop masters with movie and TV crews caught on.
"I've made umbrellas for American Horror Story, Bridgerton," Egbert said.
Two weeks ago she received a mysterious call.
"We need a custom umbrella for a very famous singer that’s going to be performing in the Thanksgiving Day Parade," Egbert was told over the phone.
In days, without knowing who would use it, she designed a red umbrella with jewels.
"When she came back and said 'Mariah Carey,' I was like, 'oh, oh my gosh!'" Egbert said
Her big moment was followed Saturday at 3 a.m. by a disheartening phone call.
"I came out and my window was just smashed and it's such a beautiful old historic window," she said.
Her store front window was in pieces along the sidewalk and in her store, but nothing was taken.
"Thank goodness. I had some of my most expensive beautiful Italian umbrellas in the window," she said.
Egbert said a replacement window will cost $3,000 to $4,000.
"I've been looking at my lease and talking to my landlord and yea this will come out of my pocket which I don’t have," she said.
The senseless vandalism is a frustrating reality other small business owners have faced.
"It makes no sense. It's just vandalism," she said.
Egbert said she just got new umbrellas to display for the Christmas season and will do that as soon as the window is replaced in the coming days.
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