Hollygrove, Xavier University benefit from Costco’s choice of location
16th September 2013 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
On Saturday, September 21, the first Costco in Louisiana will open its doors on S. Carrollton Avenue, across the street from Xavier University of Louisiana.
Following a Friday night VIP ribbon cutting ceremony with members of the City Council and Mayor Landrieu expected to attend, the wholesale giant will open the doors of its new 148,000 square foot store to the public at 8 a.m on Saturday.
Costco, a membership-only store, will feature products ranging from electronics, clothes, wine, produce and beef, a bakery, and jewelry. The store will also have an optical center, a hearing aid center, and a pharmacy. The pharmacy will team up with one of Costco’s most prominent neighbors, Xavier University. Xavier has long been renowned for its pharmacy school, and the school has struck a partnership with the new business in the neighborhood.
As part of their coursework, Xavier students have clinical requirements in their second and fourth years with the pharmacy school. Costco has agreed to take two Xavier students in cycles of six weeks, allowing the students to fulfill their community pharmacy requirement.
Dr. Keturah Robinson, vice chair and director of clinical and administrative sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana, said the experience of working in a wholesaler’s pharmacy will give students a different experience than working at pharmacies in regular drugstores like Walgreens or Rite Aid.
Dr. Robinson also hopes that the partnership will extend to Xavier hosting community health fairs at Costco. The Hollygrove and Gert Town neighborhoods are underserved in basic health care needs like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes screenings, and the new Costco could serve as a good staging point for community-oriented health events.
City Officials Excited
Officials with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office are excited to see a previously underutilized strip of land get to put to retail use.
“Costco is one of the largest, most successful, and highly respected retailers in the United States,” said Aimee Quirk, economic development adviser for Mayor Landrieu. “We are so pleased to welcome Costco to our community and look forward to its opening.”
The city is also excited for the added sales tax revenue the Costco will bring and the benefits that will have for New Orleans residents.
When construction began on the Costco in January, the city teamed with the wholesaler for an outreach program designed to encourage residents of the Hollygrove/Gert Town areas to apply for jobs. Quirk estimates that over 50% of the new hires are residents of Orleans Parish.
“They (Costco) have incredibly high retention rates and opportunities for promotion,” Quirk said.
Christian Boedding, assistant general manager at Costco Wholesale, said the new wholesale store will employ a little more than 250 people. Approximately 50 were transfers from other Costco locations, but about 200 jobs will be given to people from the New Orleans area.
For new workers, Costco’s pay will either be $11.50 or $12 an hour, depending on the employee’s designation. Raises are given based on the amount of hours worked. It takes a full-time employee about four and a half years to reach the top of the pay scale, which pays in the low twenties per hour. Full-time employees earn benefits on the 1st of the month after they’ve worked for 90 days; part-time employees earn benefits on the 1st of the month after they’ve worked six months.
City officials are happy that the new Costco is part of a larger growth pattern in the city for national retailers. Quirk cited the two Wal-Marts that are under construction (one on Bullard Ave. in New Orleans East and the other in the former Gentilly Woods Shopping Center on Chef Menteur Hwy.) and the Whole Foods on North Broad St. as other signs that national retailers are confident in investing in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
“It’s a huge validation for New Orleans as a place where national businesses can come and be successful,” Quirk said.
Costco will be open 10-8:30 Monday through Friday, 9:30-6 on Saturday (except for the opening), and 10-6 on Sunday. The store’s gas station will be open 6-9:30 Monday through Friday and 6-7 on weekends.
This article originally published in the September 16, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
