Sherry Latour, the owner of Tops Appliances and Cabinetry, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss her career journey and how she came to offer a Business Accelerator and resources to many small business owners.

Sherry Latour bought Top’s 12 years ago, after retiring in a sound fiscal position. She had previously worked as the CEO of a $100 million oilfield service company owned by entrepreneur Eddie Soileau, who also built one of his companies, Sunland Construction, into the largest merit (non-union) pipeline contractor in the U.S.

Sherry's business acumen has been gained on the job. She entered the workforce right after graduating from high school with a 4.0. While she took accounting classes in high school, she took a few courses thereafter but did not pursue a degree. "I just didn't think I could pull off college, wanting to focus on family and having children."

It was Eddie Soileau of Sunland who ended up mentoring Sherry and hired her as CEO of one of his companies. She had the opportunity to "dive deep, evaluate every system, and make it as clean and efficient as possible, adding value to its selling price.  Once the company was sold to a private equity company, I worked to help merge with other companies the equity firm owned, got it compliant to go public, while growing.  After we went public, I remained a few more years."

She was 45 years old when she moved on. While she considered retirement, Soileau counseled her, "You're not the type of person to retire." So she looked for a company to buy and Tops fit the bill as it had all the elements she was looking for: "solid employee and customer base, good products to sell."

Many people know Tops as the store on Johnston Street that sells appliances and cabinetry. TOPS has been in business for over 70 years.

Tops Appliances and Cabinetry has been in business for over 70 years. Located at 5826 Johnston Street in Lafayette LA, the store specializes in top-end appliances such as Sub Zero, Wolf, and Cove.

Our interview focuses on what is going on both within and outside of the Tops building. Sherry not only sells high-end appliances but houses fifteen growing businesses. She has formed a business and mentoring community at TOPS to help small businesses thrive as they navigate start-up challenges or are looking for a more meaningful space to conduct business.

When Sherry purchased Tops, her immediate thought was business and not the sheer size of the property (64,000 square feet downstairs and 18,000 in the mezzanine) situated on 3.6 acres. One business that had previously been housed in Tops didn't survive the economic downturn after the BP oil spill and the drilling moratorium. So she looked for other businesses that might want to utilize the space.

Today, inside Tops are construction-related businesses such as Architectural Windows & Doors and Brian S. Guidry Builders. Also found at TOPS are April Guillory Designs, and The Unconventional Dietician, Daphne Olivier, who holds cooking classes in TOPS’ live showroom. Cajun Crate, an eCommerce business that ships Louisiana non-perishable food products and Cousins Smokehouse is also housed in TOPS. You will also smell the heavenly waft of products created by Charlie and the Peanut Butter Factory as you walk in the store, along with the delicious Pies created by Acadian Slice! You won't want to miss the lush offerings of Ginger Sprout Plant Co.'s offerings!

"Working with the entrepreneurs is a way to express gratitude to all my past mentors and employers that worked with me and gave me opportunities.  My consulting work funds the mentoring work, providing me with the ability to provide education grants or microloans, marketing events, to name a few.