09/15/2026
Jefferson Market, a new community-oriented grocery store, is coming to North Lafayette in early 2027.
The store, developed as a partnership between United Way of Acadiana, the operators of the Amis Grocery Store downtown and local financing bodies, aims to address a lack of food options in the neighborhood, whose residents have long lacked access to fresh, local groceries and which has been described as a “food desert.”
The business will occupy a 2,300-foot building in Pontiac Point, and is designed to serve residents of that neighborhood, along with the surrounding Sterling Grove and McComb-Veazey neighborhoods.
“Our goal was to create something that was locally owned, that the community felt was theirs – that they could be a part of,” says Heather Blanchard, the President and CEO of United Way of Acadiana, which spearheaded the project.
While other food assistance programs, like food pantries, depend on a steady stream of external funds and food supplies, the Jefferson Market organizers emphasize the intended long-term business sustainability of the project.
Previously designed as a nonprofit model and first announced in early 2025, the project has now changed to a for-profit concept, after partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank fell through, and with it the original location for the store.
“When that kind of fell through we’re like, ‘oh man, what are we going to do?’” Blanchard says.
Then, during Mardi Gras this year, she came across the Jefferson Street site. “So I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s meant to be,’” she says.
Blanchard called the project’s community advisory council, including Alex Lazard of the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority, and they set to work securing the site.
Larger stores might typically be incentivized to come to a neighborhood through tax incentives. The public-private partnership with the owners of Amis Grocery is intended to provide a similar boost.
Read more at thecurrentla.com/2026/a-community-grocery-store-is-coming-to-lafayettes-northside/
