Real Superstore locations

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pseudo3d
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Real Superstore locations

Post by pseudo3d »

Continuing from an RetailWatchers discussion, where were the Real Superstore locations?

Here's the ones I know of:
Lafayette - 3141 Johnston Street. Closed presumably 1997 (maybe sooner) and was torn down in 2003 for a movie theater (Grand Theatres 16), later notorious for "Trainwreck" shooting
Baton Rouge - 8000 Greenwell Springs. Closed 1997 and opened sometime in the 1980s...the other store was built as a Schwegmann. [http://business.highbeam.com/436962/art ... uge-stores]
New Orleans - 2424 Manhattan. Opened 2/88 (per commercial), rebranded as Schwegmann in probably 1996, later Sav-a-Center (closed 2007), now Hobby Lobby and YouFit Health Clubs (Panera Bread has the address as well though it is not part of the building)

Another Superstore opened in early 1992 at 4500 Tchoupitoulas Street in a converted building. This was also known as Real Uptown Superstore though I don't think that appeared on the outside. This article mentions it was the fifth store in New Orleans, though it might have been fifth in the chain. The square footage appears to have been much smaller than the others unless they actually used the upper level.

There was a second Superstore that opened prior to Manhattan, but I can't find it...
Last edited by pseudo3d on 13 Aug 2016 02:36, edited 1 time in total.
wnetmacman
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by wnetmacman »

Schwegmann never rebranded the stores. They stayed The Real Superstore until the end.

2424 Manhattan wasn't in New Orleans. It's in Harvey, a town on the Westbank in Jefferson Parish.

There was a New Orleans store called The Real Superstore Express that was on Crowder Blvd. just south of I-10 in New Orleans East. It was torn down prior to Hurricane Katrina. It's on the left side if you look at Google Maps just south of I-10.

The Tchopitoulas store is now a Rouses. It was far smaller than the previous stores.
Scott Greer
pseudo3d
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by pseudo3d »

Was Crowder the first Real Superstore in the New Orleans area? The one in Manhattan was the second one, opening in 1988. Unless the Crowder one rebranded as "Express" later...
wnetmacman
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by wnetmacman »

I am not sure; I know that Manhattan, Baton Rouge and Lafayette were all relatively identical visually. The rear configuration was different on each. Lafayette had three different loading docks, for sure; one on each end and a dual set in the middle. Crowder was more like a St. Louis National store with the glass-looking hexagonal front overhang. Tchopitoulas was an old warehouse, and we've seen pictures of it.
Scott Greer
pseudo3d
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by pseudo3d »

Is it possible that a large Canal Villere/National may have expanded to Real Superstore later? Compared to Walmart Supercenter stores of today or the big 1980s hypermarkets, they weren't that big (about 70k square feet, at least the Baton Rouge one was). There probably is one store missing...
wnetmacman
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by wnetmacman »

If there were only 5-6, We've named 5. The 6th one is the mystery store. I don't know that there were 6. Toward that time, National was starting to wind down it's US operations quickly.
Scott Greer
pseudo3d
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by pseudo3d »

wnetmacman wrote:If there were only 5-6, We've named 5. The 6th one is the mystery store. I don't know that there were 6. Toward that time, National was starting to wind down it's US operations quickly.
It would've been one of the first, not one of the last. The Manhattan store was the second one in the New Orleans area as per the commercial (unless they counted the Baton Rouge store as the first, but that's a stretch). Like I said, I don't think it was the first Real Superstore that came in with pomp and circumstance, it may have been an expanded Canal Villere or National store.
pseudo3d
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Re: Real Superstore locations

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There was one that was missing. A 1996 article mentions a store in Lake Charles, the only Schwegmann operation that far west. I imagine that it was closed by year-end like the Lafayette store was, but I don't know where the Lake Charles operation might've been.
wnetmacman
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote: 17 Mar 2023 10:39 There was one that was missing. A 1996 article mentions a store in Lake Charles, the only Schwegmann operation that far west. I imagine that it was closed by year-end like the Lafayette store was, but I don't know where the Lake Charles operation might've been.
If one ever opened in LC, I don't know where. There was really no place for it. It could not have opened in 1996, as the last new Schwegmann-owned store opened in 1993.
Scott Greer
pseudo3d
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by pseudo3d »

wnetmacman wrote: 17 Mar 2023 10:49
pseudo3d wrote: 17 Mar 2023 10:39 There was one that was missing. A 1996 article mentions a store in Lake Charles, the only Schwegmann operation that far west. I imagine that it was closed by year-end like the Lafayette store was, but I don't know where the Lake Charles operation might've been.
If one ever opened in LC, I don't know where. There was really no place for it. It could not have opened in 1996, as the last new Schwegmann-owned store opened in 1993.
Didn't say it opened in 1996. I uploaded the article here (from Newsbank, same as the Albertsons in NOLA proper) which unfortunately is from a New Orleans paper, not a Lake Charles one.

I would assume that the Real Superstore in LC was a stand-alone location not unlike the locations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge (as in, not connected to a strip center) but that's not going to be necessarily true....it would've been north of McNeese (the only major retail south of there would be Wal-Mart at the SEC of Nelson and McNeese). There's Oak Park Square at I-210 and Gerstner Memorial that had a 70k square foot anchor with a weird little entrance (similar to Conn's) even going back to the 1990s...that's the best candidate right now, but that might've also been the old Wal-Mart before they moved catty-corner. I would also assume that it would be west of 210, but the building at the SWC of BS-90 and 210 looks to be a former Sam's Club...and south of I-10, but nothing looks obvious. There's also two buildings at I-10 and Cities Service Hwy. in Sulphur (a Lowe's and a car dealership), one of those was the old Wal-Mart but neither of them look like a Real Superstore.
wnetmacman
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Re: Real Superstore locations

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote: 19 Mar 2023 01:29 Didn't say it opened in 1996. I uploaded the article here (from Newsbank, same as the Albertsons in NOLA proper) which unfortunately is from a New Orleans paper, not a Lake Charles one.

I would assume that the Real Superstore in LC was a stand-alone location not unlike the locations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge (as in, not connected to a strip center) but that's not going to be necessarily true....it would've been north of McNeese (the only major retail south of there would be Wal-Mart at the SEC of Nelson and McNeese). There's Oak Park Square at I-210 and Gerstner Memorial that had a 70k square foot anchor with a weird little entrance (similar to Conn's) even going back to the 1990s...that's the best candidate right now, but that might've also been the old Wal-Mart before they moved catty-corner. I would also assume that it would be west of 210, but the building at the SWC of BS-90 and 210 looks to be a former Sam's Club...and south of I-10, but nothing looks obvious. There's also two buildings at I-10 and Cities Service Hwy. in Sulphur (a Lowe's and a car dealership), one of those was the old Wal-Mart but neither of them look like a Real Superstore.
Oak Park Square was Walmart and Delchamps. (That weird entrance was actually a late Campo Electronics)
SWC of US90 and I210 was Sam's; it's the Calcasieu Parish School warehouse now
I-10 at Cities Service was Kmart (where Lowe's is now) and Walmart where the car dealer is. Lowe's demolished Kmart to build their store.

There aren't any other good suspects; a lot of the town has been rebuilt since 2008 (Hurricane Ike) and 2020 (Hurricanes Laura and Delta).
Scott Greer
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