Volumes Shift
Zuppardo closed one 7,000-square-foot store in Orleans Parish that was damaged by Katrina, but he continues to operate a 20,000-square-foot store 10 miles west in Metairie, in Jefferson Parish.

Many of the customers who used to shop at the Orleans store now travel the 10 miles to shop at the Jefferson store, Zuppardo said, and volume there has gone up 10% to 12% in the past year.

“A lot of the customers from the other store tell us they won't shop anywhere else,” he said.

With the shift in customers, the mix at the Metairie store has changed, he added. “About 90% of the customers at the Orleans store were African American, whereas only 5% to 10% of the base in Metairie is black,” he said.

Kirk Jones, owner of Casey Jones Supermarket, Gretna, La., said his 22,000-square-foot store — located in Jefferson Parish just a few miles past the Orleans Parish line — has seen an influx of Hispanics from Mexico, Central and South America, who came to New Orleans for construction jobs that opened up after the hurricane.

“With a Home Depot right across the street from us, a lot of them shop here, so we've increased the variety of Hispanic items we carry,” Jones told SN.
He said he's also expanded the store's advertising area to attract more business from parts of Orleans Parish, he said. Ads for Casey Jones had been running in only two zones, “but we were getting a lot of calls from people looking for our ad, particularly in markets where [A&P's] Sav-A-Center had pulled out. We've been here nearly 35 years, so people know us by our reputation.”

The decision to add a third ad zone “has paid off,” Jones told SN, with business increasing for almost three years, “and although we've plateaued, with business about where it was a year ago, it's still very good,” he indicated.

Casey Jones also extended its Sunday hours to accommodate the increased volume, he pointed out. Rather than closing at 6 p.m. on Sundays, it's now open till 8 p.m. seven days a week, “because Sunday is as good a day as any other, and when we saw there were still crowds of people in the store at 4 or 5 on a Sunday, we decided the demand was there to justify later hours,” Jones said.

Regarding labor availability, he said his store was able to maintain close to 80% of its workforce after Katrina.

“But labor is always a problem, and getting quality people is tough, and we have to pay more now than we've ever paid before, including a lot of overtime, to get the job done.”

Jones said the store employs 85 people, compared with 58 before the hurricane, and salaries are up $1 to $2 an hour, with entry-level baggers getting $6.55 an hour, compared with $5.50 before the hurricane; cashiers earning $8 and up, with a norm of $10 an hour, compared with $7 base pay and a norm of $9 previously; and head cashiers getting $11.50 to $12 an hour, compared with $9.50 to $10 before.