Distribution center would employ 300
By Paul Rioux
A national furniture retailer plans to build a regional distribution center and showroom that would employ up to 300 people at an industrial park near Pearl River, the latest development in a post-Hurricane Katrina residential and commercial construction boom for the once-sleepy town.
State Rep. Pete Schneider, whose family owns the industrial park and the adjacent St. Joe Brick Works, announced the deal Tuesday night when he asked the Pearl River Board of Aldermen to annex the 331-acre park.
The company, which Schneider declined to name pending completion of the deal in a few weeks, would generate between $225,000 and $450,000 a year in local sales taxes on estimated sales of $10 million to $20 million.
“I’m very proud of the fact that we were able to bring this business to St. Tammany Parish. It involved some very hard negotiations,” said Schneider, noting that the company considered four other sites, two in Mississippi and two elsewhere in Louisiana.
The furniture company would occupy 60 acres in the industrial park located just south of Pearl River between Military Road and U.S. 11 next to the historic brickyard, which dates to 1891 and has been in Schneider’s family for four generations.
Schneider said the deal is contingent upon the park being annexed so the company can access the town’s water and sewer systems and receive police protection. The board, which did not comment on the proposed annexation, scheduled a work session to discuss the matter Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
Schneider, a Republican from Slidell, said the new distribution center would replace one in Mobile, Ala., that supplies stores from Baton Rouge to Panama City, Fla.
The local portion of the sales tax generated by the planned 15,000-square-foot showroom would be split between St. Tammany Parish and Pearl River, Mayor James Lavigne said. He said the town would receive 1 1/4 percent of total sales, and the parish would get 1 percent.
Lavigne said Pearl River’s projected share of $125,000 to $250,000 is a significant sum for a town with a $2.8 million budget.
“This is going to be a big asset for the town in terms of revenue and jobs,” he said.
