somme muster: Love of family was start for Izzabella's Villa

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Love of family was start for Izzabella's Villa | The Slidell Independent

By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau

SLIDELL ? Eva Trader has been interested in the business world since she was young, but there is a bit of a story to understand how she now owns and operates an ?upscale, designer boutique? in Slidell.
Trader is owner and operator for Izzabella?s Villa at 3971 Pontchartrain, now almost two years into her full-time move into the retail clothing and accessory business.
Izzabella?s is a specialty store that Trader wanted to start in Slidell to bring an upscale level of clothing and many other items to the North Shore, in an area where she saw a void.
?We really needed a store like this in Slidell, with many lines that nobody else carries,? she said. ?But even though we sell things for up to $700, we also have some amazing things for as little as $20.?
Trader said the ultimate reason she decided to start a retail store in Slidell is because ?the kids talked me into it. They thought we could all do it together.?
And if you hear Trader?s story about her compassion for children, it makes quick sense why she was all about operating a store with her kids.
Trader grew up with a father who didn?t have parents in his home for very long, forcing him to live in foster homes much of his life.
?My father?s parents both died when he was young, so he was in and out of foster homes and continued to be moved from one to the other, since different homes wouldn?t keep him,? she said.
After Trader was married, she had four children of her own, and added a fifth from her second marriage to Slidell businessman Bruce Trader.
Then in 2005, Trader ended up adopting a sixth child. When she was at a Slidell bank, she met a grandmother who was forced into taking care of her 18-month old granddaughter, since the mother was unable to care for her.
?The woman started telling me her story of taking care of this baby, and that she was wore out, so I told her I would take the baby for the weekend,? Trader said.
A weekend turned into another weekend, which turned into a week, and suddenly the babies? mother and father wanted Trader to adopt the child, which she and her husband did.
?How can you not want to help a little baby who nobody wants to take care of?? she asked. ?So now we have six children.?
Trader?s compassion for kids extends to a dream she has for the future.
?My true dream is to build a compound of cottages around a big lake, where foster kids and elderly people without any family can stay, as we help them find direction in their lives, or just help them when they are old,? she said.
The adopted little girl for Trader is named ?Izzabella,? so the connection to her love of children is apparent when you walk in the door of her boutique.
Trader worked a multitude of jobs in her early professional years before meeting Bruce Trader, owner of MADCON in Slidell, an underwater oil rig repair company. She began working in sales for Trader and later became romantically involved, leading to their marriage in 2003.
But before that, Eva Trader worked almost a dozen different jobs, including construction, retail, interior design, bookkeeping, and taking care of children.
?I want to do it all, that?s the way I would describe myself in life,? she said. ?But I want to do things to help others?like Christmas when we call the nursing home to see how many residents are there, and we take quilts and visit them.?
Besides a multitude of ways she is involved in community and charitable work, Trader became one of the businesses to join the Slidell Police toy drive and continues in that this year. As she also still works at MADCON, she is now allowing her daughter, Brittany, to take over managing Izzabella?s.
?This store had a great start from people who came in, and were happy to see an upscale boutique in Slidell,? she said. ?But I think we are still getting the word out about just what we have here, and that?s why we want people to give us a try.?
Trader offers ?personal shopping? for clients who want to take advantage of her interior design experience, and gives her cell phone number out to clients who can call her anytime for assistance.
The store also carries men?s clothes, and has many exclusive lines for Slidell such as Nicole Miller, Tibbi, Maria Bianca Nero, Mark & James, Yoana Baraschi, and Virgins Saints & Angels jewelry.