Schwegmann Plaza East

This is my second blog visit to this shopping center that has been mostly closed since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Nearly all of the restaurants on the outparcels of this shopping center have reopened and Pep Boys is the only retail store that has reopened.

Toys R Us

Schwegmanns/ Sav A Center

Big Lots has not returned, but if you look closer you will see that Papa John's has returned to this shopping strip.

Circuit City closed a few years before Hurricane Katrina hit. This store was featured in the Circuit City story: A Tale of Two Cities. 

Tall Timbers Mall

Tall Timbers Mall is located at the corner of General De Gaulle Dr and Woodland Dr in Algiers LA. Tall Timbers Mall opened in the 1970's but I was unable to find out which year exactly. The stores featured here were Grant City which later became a Kmart, a furniture store, and General De Gaulle Storage. The Lionel Playworld opened in November 1980 and Schwegmanns grocery opened in 1973 were two other featured stores. Store spaces from 400 to 15000 square feet were available inside of the mall. The mall was very small and passed between the Grants/ Kmart and Schwegmann store, and the stores were located just past those two entrances. The Schwegmann entrance was located inside of the mall. When Schwegmanns closed in 1998 the mall traffic declined significantly and the mall corridor was closed off when the furniture store closed. The former Grants/ Kmart space is being used as a storage space. This is yet another mall that has very little online information, so any further comments that can help with the history of this mall are always appreciated.

2/8/12 some much appreciated comments from Ryan Smith on the mall.
There was an arcade directly to the left of the entrance to the mall with some games. A video store called "Mr. Video" was located directly across from the Schwegmanns entrance, and was the video store to go to before Blockbuster came into the New Orleans market. Also a Vietnamese store was in the back of the mall that sold food and liquor. There is also a link for the kids week that was held at Schwegmanns during the summer at http://buisness.highbeam.com/4524/article-1G1-6440204/kids-week-videos-play-well-stores
Thanks Ryan for the extra info about this mall.


The former Schwegmanns store

The mall entrance was located behind the bushes between the two buildings.

The Grants/ Kmart store is on the left and the mall entrance on the right.

The Grant/Kmart store

The former Schwegmanns Texaco station closed on an outparcel when the grocery store closed. When Schwegmanns liquidated gas here was less than a dollar even for premium gas!

Schwegmann Plaza New Orleans East

This shopping center at Bullard Rd & I-10 is one of the surprising casualties of the Hurricane. The center was very popular before the Hurricane and at a great location. Only Pep Boys and some of the restaurants have returned to the center. The rest of the center is overgrown with weeds and small trees waiting for a rebirth. Since most of the retail along Read Blvd & I-10 was wiped out by the hurricane I am surprised that this center has not been reopened.

This is the namesake of the shopping center a former Schwegmann supermarket that closed in 1999. This operated as a Sav A Center market until Hurricane Katrina flooded out the site. The back of the center is fenced off to vehicles.



This was where the Big Lots formerly McFrugals operated. There were also some small retail stores in this section of the center.



Circuit City closed before the hurricane.




Toy's R Us another casualty of the Hurricane.



On the outer ring of the center; yet another casualty of Hurricane Katrina the Taco Bell. The Taco Bell was consolidated with the KFC a couple of buildings down saving space. There is also a McDonald's and a buffet on the outer ring that are open.

Schwegmann Giant Supermarkets New Orleans

Schegmann in Metairie at Vets & Division Street

A tradition that began in 1869; Schwegmann Giant Supermarkets were a place for New Orleaneans to "make groceries". Schwegmann started as a small grocery store and became the largest grocer in New Orleans. Some of the stores built in the 1960's such as Harvey and Algiers had mini-malls attached to the store. Some of the stores such as the Old Gentilly Rd location had businesses in the front of the store just like the Wal-Mart superstores of today. Schwegmann became the largest grocer in the New Orleans area and acquired the National Food store chain in the mid 1990's. Since Schwegmann had a near monopoly of the New Orleans market they were forced to close seven of their acquired stores. The acquisition also put the company into financial trouble and the chain was purchased by Kohlberg and Co after 127 years in business. The chain only lasted a little more than a year after the takeover and closed all the stores in 1999. The Schwegmann stores were known for their low prices and huge selection of store branded items. Fiesta Markets in Houston are very similar in layout and merchandise selection to the Schwegmann Giant Markets in New Orleans. Some of the old markets have been converted to different brands, but several have been abandoned or demolished.

Here is the Mardi Gras Carnival Corner that was open during Mardi Gras season. The Carnival Corner sold beads, parade supplies, and novelties.



Here is another shot of the Schegmann in Metairie at Vets & Division Street. This store was demolished in the early 2000's and replaced by a Lowe's home improvement store.