Brothers Food Mart expands in Baton Rouge
Brothers Food Mart, of Gretna, has acquired two Baton Rouge locations from Circle K and is negotiating for a third location, according to Brothers general counsel Joseph DiRosa.
The stores are at 9410 Greenwell Springs Road and 5310 Flannery Road, DiRosa said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Last year, Brothers picked up the lease for a Circle K at 4940 Groom Road, Baker, DiRosa said.
The company expects to acquire the lease for Circle K’s location at 13289 Old Hammond Highway within a month.
Brothers began looking at the Baton Rouge area after Hurricane Katrina, when many of its customers were forced to relocate, DiRosa said.
“We’ve been getting a lot of requests to expand into Baton Rouge, and we’ve always been interested in doing that because Baton Rouge is kind of a business friendly area,” DiRosa said.
Brothers has 26 stores in the New Orleans area and plans to expand aggressively into the Baton Rouge market, DiRosa said.
“We like what we see so far,” he said.
DiRosa said Brothers may spend as much as $250,000 to remodel an existing store depending on the amount of work required.
The company likes to expand the gas station and increase the size of the canopy if space is available, he said.
Brothers’ stores are typically 3,000 square feet and include a deli area, DiRosa said. In 2009, New Orleans Magazine ranked Brothers’ fried chicken second only to Popeye’s.