Restaurant Depot, a members only wholesale foodservice supplier, plans to open its first Baton Rouge location at the intersection of O’Neal Lane and Commercial Avenue, near Interstate 12, in June.
An exact opening date has yet to be set, but the company already has a marketing team on the ground to sign up new memberships for free, says Regional Vice President Rich Danieli.
“We’ve been in the New Orleans market for seven or eight years, and Baton Rouge, with its terrific food scene, was the next logical place for us to go in Louisiana,” Danieli says.
Restaurant Depot sells food, beverages, equipment and other supplies to churches, nonprofits, restaurants, caterers, delis, bars and others. The warehouse-style store is not open to the public.
JMDH Real Estate of Baton Rouge LLC, the parent company of Restaurant Depot, acquired a 7.3-acre parcel of land for the local warehouse in September 2016 for $900,000.
Construction began on a 55,000-square-foot warehouse in September, says a spokesman for Oliver/Hatcher Construction, the Michigan-based contractor hired for the project.
The project was hampered by weather delays, but the contractor intends to turn the building over to Restaurant Depot on June 1. Restaurant Depot offers a cash-and-carry supply model, similar to companies like Sysco and US Foods.
