Rouses Markets is moving is moving its corporate office from Thibodaux 10 miles down the road to Schriever, taking 150 jobs with it.
Rouses purchased the 32-acre property off La. 311 near U.S. 90 in Terrebonne Parish last week, the company announced at a press conference today.
In addition to moving its corporate office, Rouses will open its first distribution center, adding 200 to 300 new employees over the next year, CEO Donny Rouse said.
“This is something that our company needs. We’re continuing to grow. We have 63 stores today with five more under construction. Our current office just couldn’t handle the people that we need to run our business,” Rouse said.
Rouses currently employs more than 6,300 people across the Gulf Coast. The new distribution center will be centrally located between all Rouses Markets, which stretch from Louisiana to Gulf Shores, Ala.
Food will be shipped in to the distribution center before making its way onto supermarket shelves.
“The location of the distribution center for us is perfect because it’s at our office, so we can keep a close eye on it; we can be in there all day, every day to make sure everything’s going properly,” Rouse said.
With close access to U.S. 90, Rouse said, the company will be better able to attract businesses to visit the facility from New Orleans or other outside areas. The added space also gives the company the ability to expand, with plans to add more warehouses, coolers, freezers and a commissary in the future.
The property is the site of the Weatherford Manufacturing office, which was sold at auction after the company shut down the facility last year. The Weatherford building opened in 2009, employing 350 people, after reaching capacity at its previous location.
For Rouses, the move to Terrebonne Parish marks a return to the company’s roots, Rouse said.
The family’s first store opened in Houma in 1960 at what is now the corner of West Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The building was demolished in 2007, with help form its founder, Anthony Rouse.
But the company has been headquartered in Thibodaux for several decades. The first Rouses store opened in Thibodaux in 1975. Its current headquarters is at 1301 St. Mary St. in Thibodaux. Once the move is complete, that building will go up for sale, Rouse said.
Rouse said he expects residents will have “mixed feelings” about the company moving its headquarters out of Lafourche Parish. The company looked at other properties in surrounding parishes, he said, but not in Lafourche Parish.
Donny Rouse took over the company from his father, Donald Rouse Sr., in 2016, marking the third generation of leadership.
The move to Terrebonne marks one of the largest, non-oilfield investments in recent parish history.
“In the economic times we’re facing, any kind of diversification we welcome, and you know we’re happy to have the oilfield here, but any kind of diversification other than the oilfield is always welcome,” Terrebonne Parish President Gordy Dove said. “It’s a great economic and historic day for the Rouse family and markets and of course for Terrebonne Parish.”
The property was purchased over a six-month period through a sealed-bid auction, Rouse said.
The company said it received help in purchasing it from Dove, Gov. John Bel Edwards and state Rep. Tanner Magee, R-Houma.
Even with the encouragement and support of parish and state government, there is no agreed-upon tax incentive or break for the company to relocate and expand, Rouse said.
Dove said the parish is prepared to work with the company to ensure all permits, utilities and infrastructure are in place for the company to relocate.
Rouse said renovations of the 310,000-square-foot facility are expected to cost about $1 million and should be complete in time for the company to move in by January.
The local supermarket chain recently bought out Frank’s Supermarkets locations in Larose, Lockport and Golden Meadow. The Frank’s location in Des Allemands was not included in that sale.
And Rouses is currently under construction on a new Thibodaux store, located on Acadia Drive across the street from Thibodaux Regional Medical Center.
The new store will replace the one on the corner of Acadia and Audubon streets.
Rouse said that new store is expected to open in September.
Staff Writer Julia Arenstam can be reached at 448-7636 or julia.arenstam@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at@JuliaArenstam.
