Rouses to Open New Office, Warehouse Complex

Rouses Markets plans to develop a new complex in Terrebonne Parish, west of New Orleans, to make room for a rising headcount as well as warehousing to meet its growing supply needs.

CEO Donny Rouse heralded the move as a return to the company’s roots. “We’re increasing store support services to better serve our stores and customers,” Rouse said. “Terrebonne Parish makes perfect sense. We started here with our very first store in 1960.”

The new complex will sit on 32 acres at highways 311 and Highway 90, about 40 miles west of New Orleans. It will include 310,000 square feet of climate-controlled space, and land to add more warehouses, coolers, freezers and eventually a commissary. The location also allows the company greater access to serve all of its markets.

The move is expected to take place in January 2020, just as Rouses Markets kicks off its 60th anniversary. “I couldn’t ask for a better start to our anniversary year than a homecoming to Terrebonne Parish, where it all started,” Rouse noted.

The move is also expected to bring 150 new jobs to Terrebonne Parish. The warehouse will eventually employ another 200 workers, all of whom will be hired to fill new positions.

Rouses purchased the property in late March. “What a great day for Terrebonne Parish and the economy,” said Parish President Gordon Dove. “I applaud Donny Rouse and the Rouse family for keeping jobs and resources local, and welcome their store support to Terrebonne Parish.”

Thibodaux, La.-based Rouses Markets started in 1960 with a 7,000-square-foot store in Houma, La., and has since grown to 63 locations (with five more under construction) and more than 6,700 associates across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Rouses is one of the fastest-growing family-owned companies in the United States.