BURNSIDE – While Ralph’s Market employees filled empty shelves in the new store located at Pelican Point in Gonzales with products in anticipation of opening day July 23, graphic artist Katie Trosclair painted a floor-to-ceiling mural to greet customers.
The long awaited store has moved steadily toward opening day since the completion of  road work on Hwy. 44.

Next week, the 22,000 square foot grocery will introduce on opening day a new line of Ralph’s branded products, including jellies, nuts, trail mixes and dressings that will then be featured at other Ralph’s stores.

Store Manager Heath Waguespack said the store expects a big first day and many customers.

“There’s really no place out here for them to shop, and they’ve been waiting for us for a year,” he said.

Before taking the helm at the Pelican Point store, Waguespack worked at both the Gonzales and Jones Creek stores, and he has been friends with Ralph’s manager Brandon Trosclair since the two first played baseball together when they were nine years old.

Waguespack said he has family members living in Pelican Point who have been asking when the new store will open and they can visit.

“They’ve been chomping at the bit,” he said.

Graphic artist Trosclair and her husband Brandon said the towering mural, with its giant magnolia flower, plantation home and rendition of the Mississippi River is representative of the Burnside area the store will serve.

“It is painted to help make the locals who shop in the store feel more at home,” Katie Trosclair said.

The artist will also paint a brick motif mural in the wine cellar area of the store.

Brandon Trosclair said the new store is mid-sized in relation to the Jones Creek and Gonzales Ralph’s Market locations.

“It is a good, manageable size for this area,” he said.

The new Ralph’s will feature the same deli as other company stores, but with a bigger emphasis on specialty cheeses and artisan breads.

Meats, including sausage made and smoked on premise, and ready to serve meals will receive the same high priority as other Ralph’s stores, Trosclair said.

“Cleanliness and service continue to be our biggest two items that we focus on,” Waguespack said. “Someone coming into the store is greeted when the arrive and thanked when they leave.”