Langenstein’s, which opened its doors on the corner of Prytania and Arabella streets more than a century ago and has grown to three locations and a wine store across the metro area, will be purchased by New Orleans-based Robert Fresh Market, the companies announced jointly on Thursday.
Under the terms of the deal, Robert will continue to operate Langenstein’s three locations in Uptown, Old Metairie and River Ridge, as well as Prytania Wine & Spirits, and will extend offers to hire Langenstein’s approximately 100 store staffers, according to Robert’s owners. But the stores will be rebranded as Robert Fresh Market locations, bringing an end to one of the city’s oldest brands.
Langenstein’s President and CEO Ellis Lanaux, the great-great-grandson of company founder Michael Langenstein, said his family was not looking to sell the business, but that the Roberts approached them earlier this year with an an unsolicited offer that was too good to pass up. The family would not have sold to anyone other than another local family, he added.
“It was important for us that the transaction made business sense,” Lanaux said. “But also that … it was a family that we could trust and that was aligned with us from a values perspective … even if it doesn’t have our name on the building.”
The price of the sale for Langenstein’s, which had estimated sales of $35 million-$40 million last year, was not disclosed. The deal includes the three stores, the wine store and about 250 proprietary recipes collected over the years for food prepared and sold at Langenstein’s locations.
Lanaux said the decision to sell was an incredibly difficult one.
Langenstein’s grocery store moved into a former Piggly Wiggly at 1330 Arabella St. in 1954.
“Obviously it’s been kind of an emotional time for the family,” said Lanaux, who runs the business with his father, Mike Lanaux, and two of his aunts, Hilda Lanaux and Claudia Merrick. “We feel extremely lucky to have had the longevity and the business that we’ve had.”
Marc Robert III, a second-generation owner of Robert Fresh Market, which owns five stores across the metro area and does about three times as much volume as Langenstein’s, said the two companies share the same core values and Robert is well-equipped to carry on the traditions that have made Langenstein’s so successful over the decades.
“We are a very similar company in a lot of ways,” Robert said. “We’re a company that is ingrained in New Orleans communities, built on New Orleans traditions.”
The sale is expected to be finalized Oct. 15.
A tale of two families
Langenstein’s, the Uptown New Orleans grocery, seen here in 1960. (Photo from The Times-Picayune archive)
Michael Langenstein opened the original Langenstein’s in 1922 with his sons, George and Richard, in the heart of the city’s then-bustling and rapidly growing Uptown neighborhood. The store’s focus at the time was high-quality meat and seafood. It quickly grew, and in 1954, moved down the block to a larger, former Piggly Wiggly at 1330 Arabella St. — its home ever since.
The family continued to operate the original location, converting it to Prytania Liquor Store, now Prytania Wine and Spirits, and took over a 7,000-square-foot warehouse across Pitt Street to support the flagship location.
In 1994, they opened Langenstein’s Metairie Road location and in 2015, expanded again with a third store in River Ridge.
At the same time Langenstein’s was moving into Jefferson Parish, Marc and Darlene Robert opened the first Robert Fresh Market on W. Esplanade Avenue in Metairie. Over the next decade, Robert expanded to a half-dozen locations, all of which were damaged during Katrina. In the years since, the family has renovated and reopened all but one of the original locations.
Though the founders remain involved, the business is now run by the second generation of Roberts. Marc Robert, III is general manager, his brother, Matthieu, is general counsel and sister, Marcelle Connick, is marketing manager.
‘Never hurts to listen’
Members of both families say the deal was first floated early this year, when the Roberts approached the Lanauxs after learning of their plans to remodel Langenstein’s Metairie location.
“We have always recognized that the Metairie Road and Arabella locations were fabulous locations and neighborhoods that we want to operate in and feel like really fits our model,” Robert said.
At the time, Launaux said, it wasn’t “anything on our radar but that … it never hurts to listen.”
Over the months that followed, the deal came together.
Customers enter Langensteins on Metairie Road on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
The timing also coincided with Robert’s departure from the Baton Rouge market, where it sold its Highland Road location back to Matherne’s, a Baton Rouge-based family supermarket chain, earlier this year.
Robert said Baton Rouge appeared to have a lot of potential when his family opened about three miles from the LSU campus nearly a decade ago but that over the years, the market became increasingly crowded with new competitors.
“We felt like New Orleans was a better fit for our growth,” he said.
Grocers making the most of it
Robert’s acquisition of Langenstein’s comes as the grocery industry continues to consolidate, with smaller chains facing constant pressure from larger competitors, who can operate more cheaply amid ever rising costs.
Grocery prices have risen more than 20% since their pre-pandemic levels and popular national chains, like Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s, are expanding locally, slicing into a pie already dominated by big-box stores like Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Costco.
To compete, independent retailers like Langenstein’s and Robert have found growth in higher-margin prepared foods like grab-and-go meals, hot bar lunches and salad bars.
“A big reason for it is you have people that are trading down, so to speak,” Lanaux said. “If you previously would have gone out to dinner, maybe now instead you come and grab prepared food from us.”
None of that will change under Robert’s ownership, Marc Robert said. After the grocery stores are rebranded — Prytania Wine & Spirits will keep its name — Robert will renovate its new Metairie Road store, with improvements planned for its offerings of prepared foods, cheese, baked goods and fresh produce.
An “enhancement” is also planned for Arabella Street in the future, “but we’re going to start with Metairie Road,” he said.
As for why Robert is doing away with a century-old brand name, which has a loyal following of longtime customers, Robert said the Lanaux family did not want to pass it on if they were no longer part of the business.
“They want it to kind of end with their family, and I respect that,” he said. “They do want to see us carry on all of those traditions that have made them who they are.”
