Who's Moving In, Out, and Across the Street on Magazine's 3800 Block This Fall

Mignon Faget's restored 1896 building at 3801 Magazine Street has gone quiet after 27 years as the jeweler's gallery. The gallery itself only moved about as far as you can walk while the light at Peniston is red. Its reopening in the Magazine Court building at 3806 Magazine was set for October 30, with music and champagne from 4 to 6 p.m. Its new space was Sue Sartor's storefront until it came open just in time for the move.

That short trip across the street matches how the rest of this stretch has changed in 2026. No storefront between the old Étoile townhouse and Hill House Home's new boutique has sat empty for long. Each one that opened up was spoken for quickly. The longtime tenants who left mostly stayed close by.

Across Magazine, Not Away From It

Mignon Faget's move started with a sale. In September, Logan Levy, a local investor and managing partner of Side 8 Ventures who owns other property along Magazine, bought the roughly 5,000-square-foot building at 3801 for about $2.5 million. The jeweler had waived its right of first refusal to buy the building from longtime owner Adam Marcus, New Orleans CityBusiness reported.

The two sides describe the lease talks differently. Speaking to CityBusiness, Mignon Faget CEO Maghan Oroszi said the company agreed to several proposed rent increases and "accepted everything that was asked of us, to no avail." The company's own press release says it was moved out to make way for a national retailer.

Eugene Schmitt of Newmark, who represented Levy in the purchase, gave CityBusiness the ownership's account:

"Mignon Faget has long been an important part of Magazine Street, and we felt we presented several fair and creative ideas throughout the lease negotiations. Those included potentially constructing a jewel-box retail building fronting Peniston Street, along with other alternatives to maximize the property."

Schmitt called the incoming tenant at 3801 a "regional brand" and said its lease was not yet final, with an announcement expected soon. He also told CityBusiness the building drew "multiple offers and backup offers." Those backup offers are the first sign of how much demand there is for space on this stretch.

The Magazine Court space, for now, is a stopgap. Oroszi has said the company wants a permanent home "right here on Magazine Street." Adrienne Casbarian, who has a space in Magazine Court, told CityBusiness that taking in Mignon Faget would help keep the street's locally owned retail presence intact.

A Michelin Star at the New Address

Across the street and a few doors down, 3814 Magazine went through a similar handoff earlier in the year, but by choice. Dakar NOLA, the modern Senegalese restaurant chef Serigne Mbaye and business partner Effie Richardson opened Uptown in late 2022, served its last night on Magazine on May 16. It moved to 937 Leonidas Street, the bargeboard cottage facing the river levee where Mat & Naddie's operated until 2017.

NOLA.com's report on the move explained the reasoning: this time the partners bought their building instead of leasing. Mbaye said owning "allows us to build a legacy on our own terms." The tasting-menu dining room went from 30 seats to 18, and a more casual à la carte menu was added on the covered patio.

On October 22, CityBusiness reported Dakar NOLA's first Michelin star. So the restaurant that made 3814 Magazine a destination won that recognition at an address it owns, still on the Uptown side of town.

The old space already has a successor lined up. What Now New Orleans reported on October 28 that permit filings show Kintsugi going into 3814. It is a high-end Japanese restaurant from Huy Pham, who runs Yakuza House in Metairie. The menu in the filings includes a honey miso black cod appetizer, a bluefin tuna trio crudo with citrus caviar, open-face handrolls, and a Royal Chirashi Box with uni, sweet shrimp and Hokkaido scallop. What Now's report gives no opening date, and it describes Kintsugi as aiming at a higher price point than Yakuza House.

Who Is Filling the Chairs

The new arrivals on the 3900 block are why Schmitt calls this stretch something other than a side street. "That stretch of Magazine Street, around the 3800 to 4000 blocks, is really becoming its own retail node," he told CityBusiness. He described it as one of the first major shopping areas people reach heading Uptown from the French Quarter or the Warehouse District. Newmark worked on recent deals for Hill House Home, ESOM Art Gallery and Tecovas, all within a few doors of each other.

• Tecovas, 3901 Magazine. The Austin-based westernwear retailer opened a 3,000-square-foot store selling cowboy boots, apparel and accessories. It scheduled its grand-opening weekend for October 23–25 with live music, a Café Beignet pop-up, and boot care and customization services, according to CityBusiness.
• ESOM Art, 3905 Magazine. An artist-owned contemporary gallery showing figurative and abstract work by Tony and Tracey Mose. Its Uptown visitor hours are on ESOM's website.
• Hill House Home, 3938 Magazine. The New York lifestyle brand Nell Diamond founded in 2016, known for its trademarked Nap Dress. Its first New Orleans boutique is about 2,000 square feet of women's apparel, accessories and home goods, as What Now reported when the lease was signed in July. The store's daily hours are on the brand's New Orleans page.

Brands from Austin and New York are opening in buildings that came open on this stretch, and an Uptown jeweler and an Uptown restaurant that left their storefronts are both still within a short drive. Some newcomers are local operators too. Kintsugi comes from a Metairie restaurateur, and Charlotte's, at the far end of the stretch, comes from a New Orleans hospitality group.

The Townhouse at 3607

Étoile served a farm-to-table tasting menu in an 1880s townhouse at 3607 Magazine for about two years. Kyle Brechtel, whose Brechtel Hospitality Group runs Copper Vine, Vintage Rock Club and Fulton Alley downtown, bought the property when it went up for sale this year, NOLA.com's Ian McNulty reported.

The new restaurant, Charlotte's, is named for Brechtel's teenage daughter, who is helping with its design and branding. Copper Vine chef Amy Mehrtens is building a French-leaning menu with crepes and steak frites, and the plan is service from breakfast or brunch through lunch, happy hour and dinner. Brechtel called it "an all-day neighborhood restaurant for Uptown, polished but approachable." The layout is staying the same, and he singled out the porch and patio along Magazine, where new landscaping is planned.

In July, What Now New Orleans reported October as the expected opening month, with no official date announced. Brechtel Hospitality's concepts page still lists Charlotte's without hours or a booking link, so the porch at 3607 is one to watch on your next walk past.

"I love this stretch here, it's iconic New Orleans," Brechtel told NOLA.com, describing the small businesses and oak trees.

Walking It in Early November

From one end to the other, these changes fit into a single loop of a few blocks, heading upriver from 3607:

1. Start at 3607 Magazine and look for signs of life on Charlotte's porch.
2. Cross Peniston to 3806 Magazine and visit Mignon Faget in its temporary Magazine Court gallery.
3. Look across the street at 3801, where the next tenant has not yet been named.
4. A few doors up, check 3814 for Kintsugi construction where Dakar NOLA's pink-and-green dining room used to be.
5. Finish on the 3900 block at Tecovas, ESOM Art and Hill House Home, all three within a short stretch of each other.

You can repeat the same loop after dark on December 5, when the Magazine Street Merchants Association holds Santa's Champagne Stroll with after-hours holiday shopping, according to its events calendar. By then the 3801 tenant may be announced and Charlotte's may have its hours posted.

Want to know what's coming to the blocks around your own street, from storefronts changing hands on Magazine to the townhouse restaurants opening Uptown? I keep track of these changes for clients and neighbors, and I'm always happy to share what I'm hearing. Kara Lashley would love to hear from you. Let's Connect.