Thursday, June 10, 2010
Rouse's Announces Intent to Build New CBD-Adjacent Supermarket
Posted by Will Coviello on Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 5:29 PM
Mayor Mitch Landrieu was joined by three members of the New Orleans City Council this morning to announce that Rouse's Market intends to open a new supermarket in downtown New Orleans in December 2011.
- The 40,000 square-foot Rouse's store will occupy the site of the old Sewell Cadillac building at the corner of Girod and Baronne streets, in the shadow of office towers in the city's Downtown Development District (DDD). The Sewell Cadillac dealership closed in 2007 and the building has sat vacant ever since.
- "On behalf of the people of the City of New Orleans I want to tell you how much we appreciate your willingness to take a risk, to invest, to understand the importance of actually rebuilding neighborhoods," said the mayor, addressing Donald Rouse, the grocery store's co-proprietor. "When the World's Fair started back in 1984 and they thought that this neighborhood would never come back...you now see many many years later how important it is to have an area that actually feeds the folks that are here. This is going to be an integral part of not only building this community, but building the city of New Orleans and it wouldn't happen without individuals who were willing to take a risk."
- Rouse told Gambit he is "not quite sure yet" how much the new store is going to cost. "We're still doing the plans and the manipulations and such, but it'll be huge," he said. He also said the grocery store hasn't done a market study to determine the viability of the new store—a common tactic undertaken by large out-of-state chains, before entering a new market. "We've been in business for 50 years," said Rouse. "Sure I could bring someone in to do a market study, but at this point we don't need a market study."
Donald Rouse, with members of his family this morning...
- In addition to the grocery store, Rouse plans to develop office rentals on the third floor of the site, and also hopes to offer some residential development on the fourth floor, he said.
- Ron Gardner, president of the board of the DDD, thanked Rouse for "having the confidence to invest in us." Council President Arnie Fielkow also thanked Rouse's for buying up 20 Sav-A-Center stores from New York grocery chain A&P, when it pulled out of the New Orleans market back in 2007. Fielkow also said he was looking forward to having a grocery store near city hall: "We're going to be here a lot."
- —Matt Davis
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
When they said downtown, I thought it would be in the 8th or 9th Ward. You know, major residential neighborhoods where they have to go to Chalmette to make groceries instead of keeping those valuable tax dollars in Orleans Parish.
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Since when are Barrone OR Girod downtown? Neither exists on the downtown side of Canal St. Maybe a different headline is in order.
Second that. I live downtown, and I long for the day that I don't have to cross the Industrial Canal, Canal St. or let's say Broad St. on the lake side to buy real groceries (Mardi Gras Zone doesn't count.)
anyone working in any form of media in this town should have to pass a required fucking certification test involving fundamental New Orleans geography. - Sample questions would involve the difference between Central City and Mid-City and a blank "fill in the ward" map. - Failure would mean... idk, forcible return to the would-be journalist's metropolis of origin and a complimentary Times-Picayune internship badge.
I agree, I thought this was going to be about putting a new grocery store that's convenient to the Marigny/Bywater & 9th ward since there is NOTHING there. It seems like Rouse's could really fill a need and probably make more money in that neighborhood than in the middle of the CBD.
not even particularly directed at "Guest," the author of this piece, just a major pet peeve
Y'all are right, of course - but is Baronne and Girod the CBD? Google Maps seems to think so, but doesn't it end at Poydras? It's not the Warehouse District, either. What would you call it? And WELCOME, Matt!
Thanks for clarifying all this, guys. I should have known y'all would be very exacting about the name of the neighborhood.
We are dying for a grocery store in the warehouse district since Robert's on Annunciation closed. We have to travel to Napoleon Ave to shop. I, for one couldn't be happier.
Eh, it's the CBD. -- In Guest's defense, while not downtown as generally understood, the new Rouse's is certainly inside the area the state designated as "Downtown Development District" back in '74. -- & not to be a jerk about the good fortune of warehouse dist. residents, but one wonders which interested parties-- like maybe those aggressively developing multi-unit housing in the neighborhood-- did what it took to make this happen in this location.
Technically, Baronne & Girod is in the 3d Ward, for what it's worth. It's within 10 blocks of art galleries, the Clear Channel radio building and that creepy men-only gym with the tinted windows. But it'll actually also be (I think) the closest grocery store to the St. Charles streetcar line, which is cool for some people if not me.
Amazing- am thrilled with the location here. For those that work or live near the CBD it's an incredible convenience. This location makes it possible for many people to make the change from supporting Walmart to supporting a local business. Well done, Rouse's!
NICE indeed, but as most other comments it would have been even NICER if it was more in a RESIDENTIAL area, where there is a FREE PARKING lot for all the shoppers, on Baronne you would probably have to PAY at the meter, then get your TICKET then pay for the darn ticket, etc., lol. How many folks will shop AFTER getting off from work in that area, remains to be SEEN... I guess that is why we WESTBANK folks ""love"" the westbank b/c no matter where we are we drive there, park at NO charge and enter...
Denise, there'll be free parking on the roof, with elevators down to the store proper. Alison - I think that "creepy men-only gym with the tinted windows" isn't exactly a traditional gym...
Although I was tempted to duck in there for a "workout," if you know what I'm saying...
The author has it right, most of the comments are from people not familiar with New Orleans geography. Anyone who has read anything on New Orleans neighborhoods & history should know this. Downtown is what was known as the 'American Quarter' and is bounded by the river, Canal Street, Claiborne/I-10 and US 90/ Pontchartrain expressway. The Uptown/Downtown transition has always been Lee Circle. Canal Street has always been the demarcation between the French and American sectors. Downtown includes the CBD and the warehouse district and has never included any part of the French Quarter or any other neighborhood that has its own name. If someone asked you to meet him downtown, you would meet him somewhere in the area I defined above, and certainly not in the Marigny, French Quarter, Bywater, Upper Ninth Ward, or any other distinctly named neighborhood.
I'd like to see Rouses commit to more local produce. California strawberries? Why? South African Honey? A waste of your money!
Unless I am mistaken, I seem to recall seeing some work beginning on the Rouse's site. This is a VERY smart move on the company's part. I predict a drugstore will also come to that neighborhood. There are a lot of people living in the area these days, and in a truly urban neighborhood, one should not have to get into a car to go to the grocery store.
Although I don'e live downtown, I work on Poydras just about 4 blocks from the site and live uptown a few blocks from St. Charles. Going to the Tchoupitoulas Wal-Mart, Rouses, or W-D is out of my way as I go home. The new Rouses will certainly pick up a lot of rush hour business, which means they're going to need to staff that store very well, and I hope, have self service check-outs as well as express lanes for as few as 5 to 10 products.
I couldn't love Rouses more...sometimes I go there on my breaks at work just to try the samples...:)
