(Editor’s Note: This story has been revised from an earlier version to include comments from the store’s owner.)
Bocage Village Shopping Center has lost another long-time tenant, its second since the beginning of the year.
Ruffles ‘n Britches, a baby and children’s clothing store, announced on its Facebook page that it’s relocating to a space in the The Royal Standard’s newly renovated store at 16016 Perkins Road.
Allison Ray, who owns Ruffles ‘n Britches, says previously reported comments by shopping center management that the store had been closed for several weeks are incorrect. She says the store is open and will remain in operation at Bocage Village through Saturday.
Ruffles ‘n Britches, which had been located in Bocage Village since 2010, is the second well-known tenant to vacate the shopping center since the beginning of the year. In January, gift and candy store Chocollage, which had been located in the retail center since 2002, also closed. According to a recent Facebook post, it, too, is now operating a kiosk in The Royal Standard’s 16016 Perkins Road location.
“The main reason we’re moving is to get more foot traffic,” Ray says. “We’re looking forward to being in the new location.”
Ruffles ‘n Britches will have its own room of about 500 square feet in The Royal Standard, whose owners have made several upgrades and additions to the store—including a new cafe—since renovating the building following last summer’s flood.
The departure of the well-known retailers from Bocage Village comes more than a year after a late-night fire at Dearman’s restaurant, one of the anchor tenants in the center. The popular diner has remained closed since the February 2016 fire, and retailers have complained for months that the loss of traffic from Dearman’s closure has hurt their business.
Mitch Richardson, who manages the shopping center, says everyone wants the restaurant to reopen as soon as possible. But he suggests other issues were behind the closures of Chocollage and Ruffles ‘n Britches.
As for when Dearman’s will reopen, Richardson cannot say. He attributes the lengthy renovation process to delays obtaining permits from the city-parish.
“The Dearman’s people are dying to get back in there and we want them in there,” he says. “But it’s (the Department of Public Works). They tell us to do one thing, then they turn us around and tell us to do something else, then they tell us we need two permits instead of one. It’s been the most frustrating thing I’ve ever dealt with.”
Dearman’s owner David Van Gelder says he cannot predict when he will be able to reopen.
—Stephanie Riegel
