Shoppers Value, which filed for bankruptcy restructuring in late 2019, plans to close its Jones Creek grocery store after more than four years of operation.

There are no plans at this point to close any more Shoppers Value locations, said Clint Caldwell, general manager of the Baton Rouge-based supermarket chain. The store at 6576 Jones Creek is underperforming, due to road construction and competition from other supermarkets, he said. 

“Part of the thing about a reorganization is that it gives the entire corporation time to take a look at these sort of things and make changes,” he said.

According to a 30-day budget that Shoppers Value submitted as part of its Chapter 11 filing, the Jones Creek store had just under $390,000 in sales. In comparison, the store at 5355 Government St. had just over $832,000 in sales during that same period; the store at 13555 Old Hammond just over $703,000 in sales; and the Baker store, $727,000.

The bankruptcy filing was blamed on debt that Shoppers Value took on in 2018, when it purchased seven Winn-Dixie stores in the New Orleans area and Mississippi. All but one — in Jefferson — have closed.

Shoppers Value owns and operates 12 grocery stores, seven of which are in metro Baton Rouge, and one Food Depot in Bogalusa. It employs more than 600 workers across the state.

Shoppers Value took over the Jones Creek store in August 2015. Before that, it had been a Ralph’s Supermarket. At the time, Shoppers Value was operating under the Piggly Wiggly brand and growing aggressively. It took over six shuttered Winn-Dixie stores, including properties that were heavily damaged during the August 2016 flood.

The 23 employees at the Jones Creek Shoppers Value will be placed at other stores that have spots for them, Caldwell said.

The plan to close the store will go before the bankruptcy court on Tuesday. If approved, the plan is to close the store to retail customers at the end of the month and start a liquidation sale right after.

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Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.