Mayor Carol Bourgeois Jr. announced that Jeanerette will once again be getting a grocery store at Monday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

Raintree Market will be taking the place of Mac’s Sugar City Market, which burned down in a fire in June of 2022.

Bourgeois said after talking to the Raintree owner and architect, he got the go ahead to make the announcement that the purchase of the facility and property by Raintree is on the way.

“We got us a store,” Bourgeois said. “They will be the new proud owners.”

Mac’s Sugar City Market, which had been the staple grocery store in Jeanerette for years, fell victim to an early morning fire. The Louisiana Fire Marshal never released a cause of the incident, but arson was not suspected to be a cause.

The incident led to the owners of Mac’s being unable to reopen the facility, and the future of the establishment has been up in the air for months.

For the Jeanerette community, the loss of Mac’s hit especially hard due to the facility being the only grocery store in the city.

In the intermittent months, Raintree Market has been the primary store for Jeanerette residents thanks to a free shuttle service that was set up thanks to store owners and the Rev. Allen Randle of Lighthouse Missionary Baptist Church.

Bourgeois noted at Monday’s meeting that the services offered to local residents had been a major help since the loss of the store.

“They were very nice to offer transportation to travel to Baldwin,” Bourgeois said. “They even took care of fuel and they partnered with the Lighthouse ministry for several months.”

A committee had been formed to determine the future of the property, and after looking at several possibilities Bourgeois said Raintree was an optimal pick.

Raintree Market opened in Baldwin in 2010, and has served as one of the main grocery establishments in West St. Mary Parish ever since.

“We’re really excited for this store on the way,” he said.

In other business, Chief Dusty Vallot made the announcement that Jeanerette will be having a Mardi Gras parade in February following discussions with the Jeanerette Mardi Gras Association.

Vallot said discussions on the issue had been positive, and the Jeanerette Police Department will be able to secure 24 additional officers to work the parade. The Mardi Gras route in downtown Jeanerette will last from noon to 7 p.m., and the parade itself will likely end between 3 and 4 p.m.

“We want to give some extra time for people to hang out and party,” Vallot said.