Circle Food Store, where dead bodies were found floating for days after Hurricnae Katrina, remains closed five years after the storm. Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the areas hardest hit still are in a state of ruin despite promises by politicians to rebuild New Orleans to be better then it was before. (Photo by Julie Dermansky/Corbis via Getty Images)

Future of iconic Circle Food Store up in the air

Soon, the neighborhood grocery may be added to the list of beloved places that 'ain't dere no more.'

by Mary Staes | October 18, 2018

Circle Food Store is a New Orleans institution. You can see it from the highway. It’s a neighborhood landmark. But soon, it may be added to the list of beloved places that ‘ain’t dere no more.’

Owner Dwayne Boudreaux Jr. told multiple news outlets in the area that flooding, debt and a lack of business may force him to close his doors.

According to Boudreaux, the store opened in 1938. He said his father started working with the store 31 years ago, and eventually became the owner. But in 2005, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the store was closed for several years.

Boudreaux says he took over in May 2017, and though the store came with a lot of debt, business was looking up. However, after power outages and flooding multiple times, he told WDSU he’s had to throw out hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise.

“I cannot sleep.” Boudreaux said. “I wake up at 2 in the morning. I come here, clean things up, get prepared for the next day. It’s only me, my fiance and my stepson.”

Now all of the merchandise in the store is discounted, and Boudreaux says he hopes to stay open as long as he can.

The Circle Food Market
Getting there
1522 St Bernard Ave #1499, New Orleans, LA 70116, USA
Hours
Mon-Sat 7:30 AM – 7:30 PM
Sun 8 AM – 7 PM
More Info

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Mary Staes

Mary Staes

Mary Staes is Digital Content Lead for Very Local. She works with our freelancers and crafts content for our social media platforms and website. Before Very Local, she worked with CBS affiliate WWL-TV as a web producer and weekend assignment editor for about 4 years. She has also handled broadcast coverage for 160 Marine Reserve training facilities while she served as an active duty Marine. As a native New Orleanian, she takes being "very local" to heart. She loves being intertwined with the culture and figuring out how there are less than two degrees of separation between us all, whether we're natives or not.

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