Acadiana Business

Wholesale distributor expands in Church Point

by Leslie Turk

Church Point Wholesale adds 50,000-square-foot warehouse to existing facility.

Church Point Wholesale has added a 50,000-square-foot warehouse to its facility at 9684 Church Point Hwy., bringing total square footage to 200,000.

The extra warehouse space allowed the company to merge its subsidiaries, Pelican Tobacco, Abe's Novelty and Lafayette Drugs, under one roof, along with adding a climate-controlled candy room and three-level single pick mezzanine with an automated flow track. More than 40 jobs have been relocated to the Acadia Parish facility from Lafayette and Calcasieu parishes (Abe's Novelty previously operated in Morse) as a result of the expansion.

Church Point Wholesale services approximately 1,000 retail customers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas, distributing groceries, candy, food service items, health and beauty care products, and cigarettes and tobacco. The company also has an offshore division and in 2009 expanded with the acquisition of CONCO Food Distributors' convenience store wholesale division.

Owned by John Dan Gielen of Crowley, Church Point Wholesale celebrated the grand opening of the expansion Friday, July 22. Church Point Mayor Roger Boudreaux, the Church Point City Council, Church Point City Clerk Mickey Guillory, state Sen. Jonathan Perry, Rayne Mayor Jimbo Petitjean, and Acadia Parish Tax Assessor Mike Goss were on hand for the celebration and ribbon cutting.

For more info on the company, click here.