Rouses Markets plans to open new stores in Kenner and Ponchatoula, Louisiana, taking over buildings that currently are occupied by Winn-Dixie.
The New Orleans Advocate reports that Rouses will open in Keener this summer at 4041 Williams Boulevard, moving out of its current spot at 1000 West Esplanade.
“The whole shopping center there is kind of dead,” Donny Rouse, managing partner, told the newspaper.
Plus, the chain was unable to renegotiate a lease on the space. Rouses will take up the 55,000-s.f. space on Williams Boulevard.
The Thibodaux-based grocer will open its first Ponchatoula location, going into a store in the Berryland Shopping Center. The Winn-Dixie store in that spot is set to close in October, possibly sooner, Rouse said. If all goes well, a Rouses could open in the 48,000-s.f. space by the end of the year.
“We’ve had a lot of requests to get into that market,” he added. “But we didn’t have the right opportunity to get the right location.”
Rouses has 45 locations stretching from Lafayette to Gulf Shores, Alabama. The chain is planning a store in Baton Rouge, on Airline Highway, in the Long Farm Village development. Last month, a location in Denham Springs opened in the Juban Crossing mixed-use development.
“The first week of Juban Crossing was the largest grand opening we ever had,” Rouse said.
When are you going to be in poncatoula?