Free Easter Egg hunt this weekend
April 11, 2019WHERE CAN YOU RELAY?
April 11, 2019
Rouses Markets’ plan to move its corporate headquarters to Terrebonne Parish – where a new distribution center will be sited – will result in all jobs at its current central office jobs remaining, while an estimated 200 new positions will be filled.
One of the largest independent grocery chains in the U.S., Rouses announced the plans last week for a move to the former Weatherford campus at La. 311 near U.S. Highway 90, a 32-acre site strategically located 40 miles west of New Orleans.
“We were not looking for a new distribution center,” CEO Donny Rouse said in an interview. But the availability of the Weatherford site following its yanking of jobs there offered too good an opportunity to pass
up. The new center will be able to grow with the chain, which has expanded rapidly in recent years, including expansion of its delivery options for retail customers.
The move should be completed by early 2020, Rouse said.
“I couldn’t ask for a better start to our anniversary year than a homecoming to Terrebonne Parish, where it all started,” Rouse said.
Rouses now has 63 stores with five more under construction, and 6,700 employees at locations in Mississippi and Alabama, as well as Louisiana, its most concentrated area. Three stores are on the Mississippi coast and seven in southern Alabama.
At a brief news conference, Rouse thanked Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove for his assistance with making plans more streamlined, and Dove praised the business, calling the Rouses chain “first class.”
“What a great day for Terrebonne Parish and the economy,” Dove said of the announcement. “I applaud Donny Rouse and the Rouse family for keeping jobs and resources local, and welcome their store support to Terrebonne Parish.”
While the parish is providing help in terms of planning, Rouse said there has been no offer of tax incentives or economic breaks for his company.
Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Matt Rookard said his agency helped facilitate communications between Rouses and Weatherford, and is preparing to offer whatever the firm needs as it moves forward with concrete plans for site utilization. TEDA is expected to be a bridge between Rouses and the state.
“We’re already talking to Louisiana Economic Development,” Rookard said. “We will be engaging to help them where we can and help them grow.”
The new site includes 310,000 square feet of climate-controlled space with land on which warehouses, coolers freezers and eventually a commissary shall be added.
“This location allows us greater access to serve all of our markets,” said Rouse, who sees the move as an opportunity to return to the company’s roots. “We’re increasing store support services to better serve our stores and customers. Terrebonne Parish makes perfect sense. We started here with our very first store in 1960.”
Rouse purchased the property on March 28, on behalf of his family’s company. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Rouses spokeswoman said, assisted with expediting the deal. The purchase was made with help from Governor John Bel Edwards.
