IBERIA PARISH — What started as a viewer tip turned into something far more personal when one New Iberia store owner proved hard to miss. Karen Segura, owner of Surplus Plus, brings more than merchandise to the community — she brings joy, generosity, and a place to belong.
“I just, I don’t know I love this place I just— I never thought in a million years, a military store? Nobody was in the military I knew but this is— just it’s just not work, this is fun,” Segura said, dancing in the middle of her store, music playing in the background.
Fun, she said, is something she’s had the pleasure of creating — thanks in large part to her own outlook on life.
“I don’t have the negativity, you can have negativity, you can feel down and feel sorry for yourself but you got to be the one to pick yourself up,” she said.
It’s a mindset she shares freely with her customers — many of them veterans — who often come for gear but leave with something more.
“You know just talking with them, finding out what they did in the military, and some will tell me their problems and I don’t know I just love it, I just love life,” she said.
Segura didn’t always run Surplus Plus. She spent 20 years working for the store’s previous owner, Mr. Charlie, until something unexpected happened.
“He passed away and in his will he gave it to me so I’ve been owning this store for 8 years,” she said.
When asked how she reacted to that moment, she laughed.
“I said no way!!!”
Since then, she’s made the space her own — Over the years, it’s become more than a business. For some, it’s become a refuge.
“There came a homeless guy that came from Michigan staying up all night in the snow so I just let him come sleep on the couch,” she said.“He lays here and puts his hat on top of his head and he goes to sleep, I said don’t bother the people and I let him sleep.”
Segura greets strangers with the same warmth she gives regulars. “Everybody that walks in and they say it’s like I’m part of their family,” she said. “When I first started, everybody wanted me and wanted to talk to me, it’s just my personality I guess.”
Even with challenges at home, Segura shows up to the store with her usual smile, energy, and signature dance moves.
“I’m engaged, but the guy has cancer, brain, lung and liver and I’m taking care of him you know and helping him. But he’s starving cause of me, I say cause I’m so happy I don’t bring no negativity.”
When asked how she gets through the hard times, she says it always comes back to joy — and music.
“I just bring myself up. I’ll use music, I love music; if it’s sad music I’ll cry, if it’s Zydeco I’ll dance, and even French although I don’t know what they’re saying but I just love music, I just love people and I just love life.”
As the music plays on inside Surplus Plus, Segura is already moving — another step, another laugh, another reason to keep dancing.
“That’s just me, that’s just the way I am, not saying I’m special but I just love people.”
