More than 300 people lined up before dawn on June 12 to be among the first to check out their new Rouses Market in Gulfport, Mississippi, the Thibodaux, Louisiana-based grocer says.
Doors opened at 6:55 a.m., and the shoppers were greeted by cheering team members and company leaders who offered a big “Welcome to Rouses” as they entered the store.
The new Rouses is located at 1444 E. Pass Road in Gulfport, just down the street from the company’s original location there.
The new store is about the same size as the original store—44,000 s.f.—but is more similar in design to Rouses latest stores, meaning that a lot more space dedicated to fresh ingredients and prepared food, the grocer says. The store features a hot bar, soup and salad bar, Mongolian Grill, poke and sushi station, and chef’s case with ready-to-eat sandwiches and entrees.
Rouses had opened a new nearly-55,000-s.f. store in Daphne, Alabama, less than two weeks before the Gulfport opening, on May 31.
Two more Rouses Markets are expected to open later this year.
Under the direction of CEO Donny Rouse, a third-generation member of the founding family, Rouses Markets is one of the fastest growing family-owned companies in the U.S. The late Anthony J. Rouse Sr. started with one store in Houma, Louisiana, in 1960. Donny’s father, Donald, was a member of the second generation to lead the company.
Today there are 64 Rouses Markets and more than 6,700 team members serving customers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
