BATON ROUGE – Conn’s will build a giant, 250,000-square-foot warehouse along I-10 in West Baton Rouge as part of the company’s expansion in Louisiana.

The announcement of the distribution center came Monday afternoon.

Company officials said the facility will serve multiple states in Conn’s HomePlus growing furniture, appliance and electronics store. The distribution center will be the major tenant in a new, 34-acre warehouse complex on Commercial Drive between the Port Allen and Lobdell exits, government officials said.

The $5.7 million project will create 70 new jobs with an average salary of $41,300. State economic development officials said they suspect the project could create another 50 indirect jobs.

Conn’s HomePlus has eight stores in Louisiana and is expected to expand. The distribution center will handle shipping to those stores plus others in Mississippi and Alabama. Conn’s HomePlus currently operates 127 retail locations across 14 states.

“The new distribution center will not only grow our presence in Louisiana, but will also serve as a gateway to better serve our customers in the Southeast,” Conn’s Inc. Chairman and CEO Norm  Miller said. “The company is committed to continued economic expansion and further solidifying our community commitment in the state.”

Construction on the distribution center is expected to start in June and be completed within a year.

“I am delighted to learn that Conn’s is coming to West Baton Rouge Parish,” said Parish President Riley L. Berthelot Jr. “...[the] distribution center is certainly great news. This new distribution center is a perfect mechanism to stabilize and diversify our economy, and we welcome the opportunities they will bring.”

“The City of Port Allen is extremely excited to hear the news about this potential project with Conn’s coming to fruition,” Port Allen Mayor Richard Lee said. “As our small community continues to grow, we look forward to providing Conn’s the service they may need, in addition to being a good neighbor.”

A second, unrelated distribution center of about 270,000-square-feet is also in the works.

The Conn's facility will be about twice the size of a large, big-box retail store. 

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