Izzo’s Illegal Burrito and its parent company have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the owners of Rouses Supermarkets, alleging the Thibodaux-based supermarket chain pressured the developers of several area shopping centers to keep Izzo’s out of their developments.
The suit, which was filed April 6 in 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish, says the developers of Juban Crossing in Denham Springs, the Long Farm in Baton Rouge, and Berryland Development in Tangipahoa Parish—all of which have Rouses Supermarkets either newly open or under construction—were “pressured, coerced, and induced by the Rouse Group to systematically target Izzo’s and its partners for discrimination and exclusion with the intent to economically damage and destroy Izzo’s and its partners.”
The suit alleges the actions were in retaliation for a 2012 incident involving an Izzo’s restaurant manager, who was fired from his position and went to work in the burrito bar of a Rouses Supermarket in Lafayette, taking an Izzo’s proprietary recipe book with him. A suit filed by Izzo’s in 2012 against the employee alleges the Lafayette Rouses used those recipes at its burrito bar. According to court documents, Izzo’s won a court order to go into the supermarket and retrieve the recipe book.
“At that point, Izzo’s believed its conflict with Rouse’s was concluded,” a written statement released today by Izzo’s says. “However, Izzo’s recently discovered that Rouse’s has been coercing property owners and developers to exclude Izzo’s from opening new restaurants throughout various parishes in Louisiana.”
The statement goes on to say because of Rouses’ allegedly unfair trade practices, “Izzo’s has lost the opportunity to grow by opening more stores and resulting in Izzo’s losing millions of dollars.”
Copies of the lease agreements between Rouses and the three shopping centers filed as exhibits with the lawsuit do contain exclusionary provisions, specifically forbidding the landlords of the three developments from leasing to Izzo’s. The leases do not exclude any other fast-casual Mexican or burrito restaurants.
“Landlord shall have no right to lease or sell any portion of the shopping center to Izzo’s or any affiliate or related party,” the Rouses lease with Juban Crossing reads.
But Juban Crossing attorney Scott Crawford says such exclusionary provisions are not uncommon in lease agreements between big-box tenants.
“When you have a tenant as big as Rouses they will sometimes exclude certain stores from being on their site because they think they’re too competitive or too similar to what they do,” Crawford says. “I can’t tell you what the reason was for excluding Izzo’s, but it’s not unusual.”
Long Farm developer Russell Mosely, whose lease with Rouses contains a similar exclusionary provision, declines to comment, as does Rouses owner Don Rouse.
“We don’t respond to ridiculous allegations or open legal matters,” Rouse says. Attorneys for Rouses have not yet filed a legal response in court.
Izzo’s is seeking damages in excess of $10 million.
—Stephanie Riegel
