By Karen LeBlanc, host of LA64, a Louisiana Travel Show on PBS
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There’s not too many general stores still open for business in Louisiana. So when I find one, I’ve got to stop and shop.
That’s become a little ritual of mine filming LA 64, my road trip across all 64 parishes. Somewhere between the historic Main Streets and the plate-lunch counters, I keep stumbling onto these old-fashioned mercantiles — the kind of place where the ceiling still wears its original paint, where a soda machine hums in the corner, and where the person behind the counter greets you like they’ve known you all your life.
A true general store is a portal to a simpler time. Once upon a time, nearly every rural community in Louisiana had one — part grocery, part hardware store, part post office, part town square. Most have faded away. As one storekeeper told me, it’s a dying breed: folks don’t live as far out in the country anymore, and the ones who do can drive to a supermarket in town. The little locals just can’t compete.
But a handful of them are holding on — kept alive by families who simply refuse to let go. These are my favorite general stores in Louisiana worth building a road trip around, plus a few historic ones every history lover should seek out.
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Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile — Natchitoches (Natchitoches Parish)
Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile Store, 758 Front Street, Natchitoches.
If you want to shop the oldest general store in all of Louisiana, you point your car toward historic downtown Natchitoches. Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile has been in business since 1863 — and walking through its doors on Front Street feels like stepping straight into the good old days.
What I love about Kaffie-Frederick is that it never traded away its soul for the sake of the times. You’ll find a mix of modern-day finds and vintage treasures, all with nostalgic nods to the retailers of yesteryear — hardware, housewares, cookware and kitchen supplies, classic toys like the Radio Flyer, and gifts you’ll want to take home. The original freight elevator still works. And here’s the detail that stopped me in my tracks: their 1910 cash register isn’t just in beautiful condition — they still ring up every single sale on it. Order online or shop in person, and either way you get that old-fashioned service and a memory that lasts.
Set in the heart of Louisiana’s oldest town — the same downtown that plays backdrop to the film Steel Magnolias and the beloved Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights — this is a general store with genuine staying power.
Karen’s tip: Time your visit with a stroll along the Cane River and the brick-paved streets of downtown Natchitoches. Kaffie-Frederick isn’t a re-creation of the past — it’s the real, still-running article, and that makes it the crown jewel of Louisiana’s general stores.
Donnell’s General Store — Swampers (Franklin Parish)
If I could send you to just one, it would be this one.
Deep in northeast Louisiana, in a spot on the map called Swampers, you’ll find Donnell’s General Store — and I’d venture to say it’s one of the main attractions in these parts. Dewey Donnell is the third generation to run the family business alongside his siblings. His grandfather built the very first general store here back in 1934, right by the river next to the ferry. The building you shop in today has stood since 1946, and it still wears the original paint his grandfather brushed onto the ceiling.
Dewey told me you can find just about anything here — from groceries to guns. But even if you’re not in the market for provisions, it’s worth wandering aisles lined with pots and pans, candy, and clothing. An old-fashioned soda machine hums along the wall, vintage signs hang beneath watchful taxidermy, and for years this place doubled as the community’s post office. In fact, Swampers got its name because Dewey’s grandfather — made postmaster in 1939 — said the name benefited the people of the swamp.
Karen’s tip: Type “Swampers” into Google Earth and it drops you right on top of Donnell’s. Now that’s a landmark. Come for the history, stay for the wandering — this is the most quintessential old general store still standing in Louisiana. Here’s my full visit to Donnell’s General Store if you want the whole story.
The Old Mill Store — Fisher (Sabine Parish)
749 4L Dr, Fisher, Louisiana
Over on Louisiana’s western edge, the tiny sawmill town of Fisher was founded in 1899 by the Louisiana Longleaf Lumber Company — and back in its heyday, everyone in town shopped at the general store. The remarkable part? It’s still in operation today as The Old Mill Store, now specializing in antiques.
I came to shop, and Miss Gail told me I’d find “everything from A to Z, from the cradle to the death.” She wasn’t exaggerating. You can shop for an entire lifespan here — objects of nostalgia, collectibles, quilts, vintage kitchenware, and clothing. It’s a treasure hunt that rewards patience with that one special find.
The store sits inside a cluster of white-washed wooden buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places — an ensemble that includes an old opera house, post office, church, and city hall, all standing beside the railroad that once carried lumber out of this village. Fisher is remembered as one of the last sawmill towns from Louisiana’s golden age of timbering.
Karen’s tip: If you’re passing through Fisher, you gotta stop and shop — and give yourself time to stroll the whole historic sawmill village while you’re at it.
Laurel Valley General Store — Raceland (Lafourche Parish)
Down along Bayou Lafourche, the Laurel Valley General Store looks like it’s frozen in time — because in many ways, it is.
The store is part of Laurel Valley Village, the largest surviving 19th-century sugar plantation complex in the United States. The building was originally raised in 1905 to replace an earlier structure, serving as the general store for the plantation village.
It was moved back off the highway in the 1970s and refurbished, with a small museum set up in the back and a consignment shop up front where you’ll find locally made crafts and Louisiana delicacies.
Here’s a fun bonus: Laurel Valley Village is a movie star. More than 29 major motion pictures have filmed among its weathered cabins and cane fields — including Ray and, most recently, Sinners. So when you shop the general store, you’re browsing a genuine piece of Hollywood-in-the-bayou history.
Karen’s tip: Pair your visit with a walk through the village to see the cabins and old farm equipment — it’s one of the most cinematic stops on Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou. Lafourche is full of makers, too — like quilter Anne Hitt, stitching hope one heartfelt doll at a time.
Little Willow Mercantile — DeRidder (Beauregard Parish)
109 S Washington St, Deridder, Louisiana
In the piney woods around DeRidder, a tight-knit Mennonite community took root — drawn by affordable land and a way of life grounded in faith, craftsmanship, and self-sufficiency. What began in farming and dairy has grown into a whole network of small businesses, and my favorite is Little Willow Mercantile, owned by Michaela Smith and her husband.
This is a general store in the very best, most handmade sense. Michaela and her family make all the soap and much of the personal care line themselves. Talented local artisans supply the pottery, the wooden cheese slicers, leather goods, candles, and honey. Behind the counter, drawers and shelves brim with grains, rice, and oats, and you can buy freshly milled whole grains right in the store. Michaela even co-authored a cookbook celebrating those very ingredients.
It’s a true family affair: her dad roasts the coffee, her grandmother sources the fabrics, and her cousins craft many of the goods.
Karen’s tip: This is the place to fill a basket with genuinely Louisiana-made, handcrafted goods you won’t find anywhere else — and to taste a lesser-known corner of the state’s culture.
Suire’s Grocery & Restaurant — Kaplan (Vermilion Parish)
Suire’s Grocery & Restaurant — 13923 Highway 35, Kaplan, LA 70548 · (337) 643-8911 · open 5:30 a.m. daily
Out in the 337 — home, locals swear, to the best cooks in Louisiana — the town of Kaplan hides a country grocery that’s equal parts general store and legendary kitchen. When the menu is spray-painted on the facade, you know you’re somewhere totally authentic and unpretentious. Welcome to Suire’s Grocery & Restaurant.
Sisters Joan and Lisa Suire took over the store from their parents, who bought it in 1976. Their mother quickly realized that serving family recipes was good business, so she cleared out a few shelves to make room for tables — and the restaurant was born. Today Suire’s opens at 5:30 a.m. and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner from sunup to sundown. Something is baked every single day, all from family recipes.
Ask any foodie or hunter where to find the best turtle sauce piquante, and they’ll point you straight here. Lisa cooks it every Friday — a four-hour labor of love. Family photos, newspaper clippings, and famous faces line the walls, and a lone pay phone still hangs in the corner, a reminder that this is a place suspended in time and grounded in legacy.
Karen’s tip: Come hungry, and don’t leave without the turtle sauce piquante on a Friday. This is grocery-store-meets-home-kitchen at its most authentic. Make a weekend of it and bed down nearby at Palmetto Island State Park in Vermilion Parish.
For History Lovers: Former General Stores Preserved in Time
Not every great general store still rings up a sale. Across Louisiana, a few historic mercantiles have been lovingly preserved — perfect stops if you want to step back in time.
- Westwego Historical Museum (Jefferson Parish).
Salaville’s original 1800s general store now serves as a museum, and it feels almost like it’s still open for business, with shelves stocked the way they once were.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
While you’re in this fishing town, don’t miss the Westwego Shrimp Lot, where the Temento family has sold seafood for three generations.
On the campus of LSU Shreveport, the center’s re-created 1880s general store is packed floor to ceiling with vintage artifacts. It’s astonishing how much they could fit into one small store — the collection was built by asking the public to donate whatever they thought belonged on the shelves.
At the frozen-in-time sawmill town of Longleaf, the old commissary — the mill town’s version of a general store — now welcomes visitors as part of the largest surviving sawmill complex in the nation.
Planning Your Louisiana General Store Road Trip
Are there still real general stores in Louisiana? Yes — but they’re rare, which is exactly what makes them worth the drive. Kaffie-Frederick in Natchitoches, Donnell’s in Swampers, The Old Mill Store in Fisher, Laurel Valley in Raceland, Little Willow Mercantile near DeRidder, and Suire’s in Kaplan are all still open for business.
What is the oldest general store in Louisiana? Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile in downtown Natchitoches, in business since 1863, is recognized as the oldest general store in the state — and it still rings up sales on a 1910 cash register.
Where’s the most famous general store in Louisiana? Donnell’s General Store in Swampers (Franklin Parish) is often called one of the last true general stores in the state — the kind of place where you really can buy anything from groceries to guns.
Call ahead. Small-town hours can shift with the seasons, and some of these stores keep country hours. A quick phone call before you go saves a long backroad drive.
Bring cash and curiosity. Half the fun is the treasure hunt — and the conversation with whoever’s behind the counter.
The Takeaway
Here’s what I’ve learned chasing general stores across Louisiana: these places aren’t really about the merchandise. They’re about the people who keep the doors open — often out of stubborn love for their community more than any profit. As Dewey Donnell told me, they keep the store going because it’s part of them, and part of them is part of the community.
So next time you’re winding down a Louisiana backroad and you spot a weathered storefront with a screen door and a soda machine, do what I do. Stop. Shop. Say hello. You’ll walk out with more than you came for — and a story to take home.
Want more backroad discoveries? Browse all my Louisiana Shop stories — from Yvonne LaFleur’s timeless New Orleans boutique to backroad mercantiles — and follow along with LA 64 as I explore all 64 parishes, one Main Street, plate lunch, and general store at a time.
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