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20
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
JULY | AUGUST 2015
the
Anniversary
issue
A
lthough it seems so familiar, so ubiquitous — as the saying
goes, so Naturally N’Awlins — the fact is, while Rouses has
been around for 55 years, it’s relatively new to New Orleans.
But something happened on that day the first Rouses Market opened
in the city in the fall of 2007 — something equally only-in-New
Orleans —which conferred upon the franchise the kind of legitimacy
that usually takes a company decades to earn in this town.
That morning, a caller to WWL radio referred to the new store in
Mid City as “Rooses.” Two calls later, someone called it “Ralph’s.”
Minutes later, another called it, “the Rouse.”
Fromthatmoment,iconic status was assured.
One of the weird and adorable quirks of
this city — inexplicable, nonsensical, but
absolute — is that once everyone here starts
mispronouncing your name, you’ve got it
made. We repeatedly butcher your name —
high five! You’re part of the family now.
A quarter century after it closed, we still call it
D.H.“Holmses.”“K & B, KB,”we loved them
so much we even named a color after them.
Here in New Orleans, we’re always getting
it wrong in just the right ways.
In an environment so determinedly and
contentedly eccentric and unique — it’s no
easy feat to become the store locals think of
when you say the words “makin’ groceries.”
Especially after only eight years on the scene.
This isn’t New York, the Big Apple. We all
know: If you can make it there, you can
make it anywhere. This is New Orleans —
not so Big and never Easy — and if you
can make it here, well then — nothing else
really matters, quite frankly.
• • •
Rouses was born in Houma, one of many municipalities in south
Louisiana that bear enough proximate cultural affinity as to convey
a certain geographical allowance — which holds that if you’re close
enough to pick up WWL’s broadcast of Saints games on your radio
on Sunday afternoons in the fall, you’re close enough to call New
Orleans home.
And if Saints fans actually tailgate in your parking lot on game day
— as they do at the Rouses on Baronne Street in the CBD – then
your local standing is unimpeachable. Or, as Dr. John might put it:
That’s legitimatical credentialization.
How
did
Rouses become such a beloved institution in such a short
time? How did it morph into the area’s best and most popular
supermarket?*
(*SeeGambit Readers poll “The Best of NewOrleans,”2008-present.
Or any other poll. Or just ask anybody.)
Before Katrina struck, 10 years ago, there were 15 Rouses Markets
in Saints country, including two in Metairie and one in Covington.
The storm pared that down to three — one of the Metairie stores
never reopened.
That wouldn’t appear to be such a strong position to launch an
effort to win the hearts, minds — and loyal business — of the New
Orleans market, but that would soon change.
The storm, the flood, the recovery and the rebuilding forced every
business to rethink itself and — in many cases — reimagine itself.
And in September of 2007 — almost exactly two years after the
storm — Rouses made a blockbuster deal that would essentially
redefine the company.
by
Chris Rose +
photos by
Frank Aymami
The World Famous Pinettes All Girl Brass band performing at Rouses tailgate.