NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — It’s a case of two Tracey’s. With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, there’s a bar brawl brewing in the Irish Channel. There’s a legal battle between two business owners over the name of the popular bar, “Tracey’s.”
Tracey’s owner Jeff Carreras is excited about his new larger and less expensive location on Magazine Street and Pleasant Street, but he’s upset over a legal battle in which he’s trying to keep the Tracey’s name and be the only Tracey’s in town.
“We own the name Tracey’s. We trademarked it several years ago,” Carreras said.
In 2023, Carreras took his Tracey’s from Third Street and Magazine Street where it had been for 13 years. The new location’s been under construction ever since.
“We had to sell back the LLC to the old location, so we knew they were going to try to use that name Tracey’s and that was the reason we didn’t sell LLC back because we knew they were going to use the name Tracey’s and we don’t want that out there. There’s only one Tracey’s and that’s us, my wife Jaimee and I,” Carreras said.
The legal battle is with Mark Bruser and his wife Kim Banning who own the old Tracey’s building, as well as Parasol’s on the same block. Their lawyer, Adam Vickers, with Intellectual Property Consulting, released a statement on the matter.
“Everyone agreed that the TRACEY’S trademark was owned by the company that operated TRACEY’S, 2604 Magazine Properties, LLC, until this dispute arose. Mr. Carreras sunk the company deep into debt and then broke his lease at 2604 Magazine Street. Ownership of the company transferred to Ms. Banning when Mr. Carreras broke the lease. However, just before he broke the lease, Mr. Carreras attempted to transfer the TRACEY’S trademark to his wife to avoid the transfer to Ms. Banning. We are confident that the Court – whether federal or state – will determine that the attempted trademark assignment was a sham and that Ms. Banning’s company owns the trademark rights. Ms. Banning and her husband simply want to reopen TRACEY’S in its original location without any confusion as to who owns and operates TRACEY’S.”
All of this is leading up to a legal showdown after the name Tracey’s was seen painted onto the old location just days ago.
“Tracey’s is more than a name, it’s our brand,” Carreras said.
With a little luck of the Irish, maybe this can all be resolved soon.
Owners of the old Tracey’s building told WGNO they plan on having their annual St. Patrick’s Day Parasol’s Block Party and will re-open the old Tracey’s building on Third and Magazine Streets using the Tracey’s name.
While the Tracey’s that moved to Magazine and Pleasant Streets is still not ready to open, but they are hoping to open as soon as possible.
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