Oil spill shuts down local business

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WALA) - Louis Delaparra runs Bizarre Bazaar, a souvenir shop in Orange Beach that offers everything from radio-controlled cars to plush monkeys. The business has taken up a large part of his life for nearly two years.

"We put it on average about 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get to where we need to be financially," said Delaparra, who's lived on the Gulf Coast for 9 years.

Since the BP oil spill, business at the Bazaar has been brutal, easily down more than 50%. Some days, the cash register didn't even open.

"I've done zero days. I have it well documented. $27 a day, $35 a day," said Delaparra. On the opposite end, a good day in the past for his store was around $1,000.

For the entire summer, Delaparra has only received one check from BP, for $5,000, not enough to keep his store open. August 5, Delaparra plans to close the doors on his souvenir shop.

"We are going to close our doors, pack our product, put it in storage and sit down and assess the situation and see where we go from there. We're workers, so we'll continue working."

Just not at the Bizarre Bazaar.