Rouses Location Finally Reopens After August Flood

The Rouses Market in Denham Springs, La., was expected to officially reopen Wednesday, four months and a day after massive flooding overtook Livingston Parish.

Historic flooding last August ruined the structure of the store, destroyed inventory and forced the evacuation of Rouses team members, including a few who had to be rescued after working diligently to save their store.

“There was never a question of whether or not we would rebuild. We started work as soon as the floodwaters receded,” said Donny Rouse, CEO of his family’s company.

The renovated store is almost identical to its original layout. “We’d only been open a year and a half so that store was practically brand new,” Rouse said. “But we took this opportunity to make a few upgrades to make the shopping experience even better."

More Food Donations

Rouse spearheaded donations to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and Second Harvest of Acadiana in the wake of the floods, raising over $200,000 for families in need. On Wednesday morning, the company will donate a truckload of Hormel Cure 81 Hams to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. The nearly 1,400 hams will be distributed to local food pantries in and around Denham Springs.

Rouses Markets has made several large food donations like the Hormel one scheduled for Wednesday, and collects food and cash donations for hunger relief year round. “We’ve donated over two million dollars in food and cash to area food banks,” Rouse said. “My family considers feeding our community job one.”

Associates who were relocated to Rouses stores in Baton Rouge and Ponchatoula during the rebuild are back home at their original store. “It’s been a very tough four months for Livingston Parish,” Rouse said. “We worked day and night to get this store back up and running as quickly as possible. We knew what it meant to this community, and what this community meant to us.”

Founded in 1960, Thibodeaux, La.-based Rouses Markets employs more than 6,300 team members at nearly four dozen stores in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.