Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published September , 2007 They'll Also Run French Quarter A&P Rouse's Will Take Over Sav-A-Center Stores In New Orleans Area Rouse's, a family-owned supermarket chain that began on the bayou in Thibodaux and expanded rapidly throughout Southeast Louisiana in the last decade, has acquired all the A&P supermarket brands in the New Orleans area. The most prominent of the A&P stores here is Sav-A-Center, of which there are sixteen. That's exactly how many Rouse's stores there are in total, so the acquisition doubles the size of the company. Rouse's will also take over the old-style A&P at the corner of Royal and St. Peter, a cherished resource for French Quarter residents for decades. Donald Rouse, the president, says that the formal takeover will happen in October. So they're moving quickly. He adds that a few of the absorbed stores will be spun off to other operators--the A&P on Magazine Street, for example. One of the stores in the Mandeville-Covington corridor, where Rouse's already has a substantial presence, will be closed, as will another in Slidell. Rouse's is the largest independent grocery chain in Louisiana. It has aggressively opened new stores in the New Orleans vicinity, although the newly-acquired stores will include the first they've owned in New Orleans proper. Rouse's makes much of its local, Cajun roots. Its stores have many more local products than the chains do, and the meat departments produce their own boudin, andouille and Cajun-style charcuterie. In its newer stores, it's been unusually ambitious in its gourmet sections, with very good wine departments and even dry-aged beef here and there. Rouse's has experience absorbing left-behind chain supermarkets. It moved into some of the closed Canal-Villere and Delchamps stores. Sav-A-Center also grabbed some of the detritus of those supermarkets of the past. Some months ago, A&P announced its intention to divest itself of its operations in this area, as it downsizes and concentrates on other markets. Unlike Winn-Dixie, its most closely comparable competitor, Sav-A-Center had only a spotty presence in this part of the country. There was quite a bit of disturbance about this, especially in the Mandeville-Covington area, where Sav-A-Center was a major player. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com