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John G. Schwegmann joined his family's grocery business in the 1930s, building it into a local empire before turning his attention to politics.
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Photo by Ann Wakefield
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Hey Blake,
I was wondering if you would be interested in going to your sources to find the history of Schwegmann Brothers Giant Supermarkets? There's a fellow with a grocery Web site -- www.groceteria.com -- and I think he would enjoy and use the information about such a large chain.
John Larmann
Dear John,
I have been to the Web site you mentioned, and it is filled with interesting histories of large grocery chains in America. I, too, think that our very own Schwegmann's should be represented.
It was in 1869 that the Schwegmann family went into the grocery business when it began selling bread and fresh fruit in New Orleans. The pioneer Schwegmanns were John W. and G.A., two German immigrants who opened Schwegmann's Grocery and Bar in the Bywater neighborhood at Piety and Burgundy streets. To attract customers to their new but not-yet-successful store, they kept the store's doors open a little longer than the competition did -- even in the winter.
Some years later, the enterprising brothers tried something new: self-service. They still offered full service for the traditional customers but encouraged as many folks as possible to get their own beans and rice from the shelves and take their baskets to the checkout counter. While this innovation was not initially well received, shoppers accepted the idea very quickly when they found out that they would get a 10 percent discount if they helped themselves.
Son John G. joined the family business in the late 1930s. When World War II was over, he and his brothers Anthony and Paul opened their first 'Giant Super Market' in 1946 at 2222 St. Claude Avenue near Elysian Fields Avenue. The modern age of grocery shopping in New Orleans had begun.
Before we knew it there were outlets everywhere. And by 1957, Schwegmann stores were all over town. And they were really big, the largest of which was on Old Gentilly Road. At the time it was the biggest supermarket in the world at 155,000 square feet. Tour buses used to pull up and unload folks on the way out of town. This store was remarkable for its day, one of the first of its kind.
Under the leadership of John G., the business thrived. He then decided to go into politics. Starting in 1961, Schwegmann began a political career that included being a state representative, public service commissioner, and senator. However, after a series of strokes in the late 1970s, he turned over control of his supermarkets to his son, John F.
John F. was, likewise, elected public service commissioner and continued in his daddy's footsteps as he built more stores. And then he started buying out other companies: 28 National Tea company stores. It was the beginning of the end.
He added these 28 stores to the 18 other Schwegmann locations in 1995. However, a year later, after much financial trouble, the Schwegmann chain was sold.
I can hardly believe it's been 10 years. I once heard someone say, 'New Orleans is the only place you can get emotional about a grocery store.' And you know it's true. We take food very seriously here and 'making groceries' is not just a chore.
Hey Blake,
Exactly what are red bugs? When I first moved to New Orleans from Los Angeles, I asked the person I was living with what those little red bugs were, and he answered, quite simply, 'red bugs.'
Kevin Korson
Dear Kevin,
A red bug is a chigger and is the immature stage (larva) of the harvest mite. In the larval stage, chiggers become annoying because they cause intense itching after they bite. It's the chemicals in their saliva that cause the problem. If you go in an area where there is tall grass, you may encounter these critters -- called red bugs because they are red. They actually are too small to see with the naked eye -- only 1/150th of an inch in diameter -- but when a bunch of them gang up on you, that's when they show their colors. Chiggers are everywhere. I'll bet they even live in California.
CORRECTION: The wind that overturned a float in the Carrollton parade in 1970 reached 90 knots. That's more than 103 mph -- much stronger than the 70 mph I wrote in the column of May 10.
