Rouses Markets buys 17 area grocery stores

Rouses Markets has a big presence in the Tri-parish area.

Now, the local supermarket chain will have a high visibility in New Orleans, too.

Rouses, the largest independent grocer in Louisiana, has acquired 17 New Orleans-area Save-A-Center stores from Save-A-Center’s owners, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P).

The local supermarket expects to complete the takeover in October. The store, which currently employs more than 2,200 people, will employ more than 3,600 following the acquisition.

Rouses plans to retain most Save-A-Center employees in the affected outlets.

“We’re bringing the bayou’s best to New Orleans,” said owner Donald Rouse. “Now, people in New Orleans can enjoy what folks around here have enjoyed for so long, like wild-caught Louisiana shrimp from Terrebonne Bay, fresh seasonal produce from small neighborhood farms, and local products made right here in south Louisiana.”

“We buy the best in Louisiana, and we bring the best to Louisiana,” he said.

Rouse is glad A&P looked locally when seeking to sell its area Save-A-Center stores.

“We are very happy that A&P chose to work with a Louisiana based, family-owned independent instead of a national chain,” he said.

South Louisiana needs to keep the stores operating after the hurricanes of 2005, Rouse explained.

“So many of our customers, employees and their families were affected by Katrina and Rita,” he said. “It’s important to the rebuilding process of south Louisiana that local companies like ours invest in our state. We’re proud to be from south Louisiana, and we’re proud to play a part in the area’s recovery.”

Rouses, headquartered in Thibodaux, carries local produce and seafood, in addition to the regular supermarket offerings, specialty foods, and natural and organic products.

The store has a sausage kitchen which churns out its own line of Cajun Specialty Meats, including boudin, head cheese, turduchen, and smoked and stuffed meats. The chain carries its own line of Bayou Boys boiled seafood and barbecue.

Additionally, Rouses has full service butcher shops, seafood markets, delis, cafes, floral shops, and a large offering of wines.

The Food Partners, an investment banking firm which specializes in mergers and acquisitions, provided consultation services to Rouses.

Anthony Rouse Sr. founded the grocery store in 1960. His sons Donald and Tommy, and their children, manage the company today.