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ROUSES.COM
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EXPANSION
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ROUSES HISTORY
Donald Rouse
It was the most exciting food store in the area.
Dad was really proud that a local business had
opened a store that size and could employ
that many people. I remember him saying, “If
a local doesn’t do it, a chain will.” Dad agreed
with Huey Long, who famously said, “I’d
rather have thieves and gangsters than chain
stores in Louisiana.”
SCHWEGMANN’S
Tim Acosta
We wound up in Morgan City when Winn
Dixie pulled out after Hurricane Andrew.That
was 1992.
In 1996, we had our first big growth
spurt. Schwegmann’s took over National
Supermarkets and had to get rid of a few new
stores to avoid competing against existing
Schwegmman locations. We picked up That
Stanleys in Thibodaux and Houma, and
Canal Villeres in Lockport and Metairie, on
Veterans by Transcontinental. Metairie was a
whole new market for us. Sherriff Harry Lee,
IrmaThomas and Chef Andre Apuzo starred
in our commercials and WDSU’s Margaret
Orr bagged groceries on opening day.
Suddenly Rouses was one of the largest
independent grocers in Louisiana.
EPICUREAN-STYLE MARKETS
Donald Rouse
The epicurean-style markets in Houma and Thibodaux were a
completely different concept for us. We try to bring something new
to every store we open, but this was more than just adding the latest
features.Wedramatically expanded the deli and bakery, moved fresh
food to the front of the store, put in our first completely organic
section in produce and had our first international section in grocery.
Clint Adams
Rouses #16 in Thibodaux opened in 1999, Rouses #15 in Houma
open in 2001. I was a manager at #16, then #15 (#15 is numbered
first, but we opened it second). People travelled from all over
Louisiana just to see these stores.
Donald Rouse
When Delchamps left the market, we bought a few of their stores
in Thibodaux, Cut Off and Metairie. In 2003, we opened the first
Rouses Market in St. Tammany, a 54,000-square-foot store in
Covington. We were mid-build on our Mandeville store when
Katrina hit in 2005.
Where The Chefs Shop
Growing up in Thibodaux, Ali Rouse Royster and I went to school
together from kindergarten through high school graduation.The Rouse
Family and their grocery stores were always a part of my life. Rouses
was the only place I knew you could shop, especially for the good
stuff. Before I became a chef, the good stuff consisted of apple fritters
and doughnuts from the bakery, ice to fill up my ice chest before a
fishing trip, crawfish for family get-togethers, beef tongue for crab bait
and all of the “day old” food to feed the hogs my grandfather raised.
When I left Thibodaux to pursue my career as a chef, the good stuff at
Rouses never really left me. I’d order king cakes to send to friends in
Italy and the Caribbean — to give them a taste of home.
Today as a chef, I still eat doughnuts from the bakery and shop for
that same taste of home to share with international friends. I shop
for produce, meat and game from local farmers. I can get ingredients
indigenous to Louisiana: Steen’s cane syrup from Abbeville for cane
vinegar, Hola Nola tortillas from Gonzales for my redfish tacos,
sunflower flour from Folsom and hogshead cheese and store-made
boudin ... still getting all my good stuff from Rouses.
—Chef Nathan Richard, Kingfish, New Orleans