New McDonald’s Confirmed for Broussard; Will Other Locations Close?
It has been confirmed that a new location of McDonald's is coming to Acadiana.
Developing Lafayette first reported that new construction for a McDonald's was coming to St. Nazaire Road in Broussard.
We went straight to the people who will be owning and operating the new location to get more of the scoop on the situation.
WHERE WILL THE NEW LOCATION BE BUILT?
The new location of McDonald's in Broussard will be at 208 St. Nazaire Road. That address puts the restaurant at the intersection with the traffic light on St. Nazaire Road, just east of Highway 90. The new McDonald's will be built across the street from Bankcorps and directly in front of the Safe Source Direct facility.
WHO WILL BE RUNNING THE NEW MCDONALD'S?
We spoke with the folks at Miller Management, as they will be owning and operating the new McDonald's in Broussard.
Miller Management is very familiar with Acadiana, as they have been owning and operating McDonald's in the area for 3 generations.
Their first McDonald's restaurant was opened in Abbeville in 1982. Rudy and Freda Miller, along with their son Larry, soon began to expand their management operation, opening McDonald's restaurants in Lafayette, St. Martin, St. Mary, and Iberia Parishes.
By the time Mr. Rudy retired, the family owned and operated 10 McDonald's restaurants in Acadiana and, soon, they will have a new location on St. Nazaire.
MILLER MANAGEMENT MCDONALD'S LOCATIONS
- 1982 - Abbeville
- 1989 - Franklin
- 1990 - St. Martinville
- 1996 - Kaplan
- 1996 - New Iberia
- 1997 - New Iberia
- 1998 - New Iberia
- 2001 - New Iberia
- 2008 - Walmart location in Broussard
- 2018 - Highway 90 in Broussard
The elder Millers are gone now, but they left behind 2 generations of very capable people to run the family business.
I spoke at length with Larry Miller, Rudy and Freda's son, about the new location and, though he couldn't share everything with me, he did fill me in on some information.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW MCDONALD'S?
The first thing he told me was that the information printed on the Developing Lafayette website was "impressively accurate". The location, the "look" of the new building (though not exact, it will probably be similar to the photo above), and even the timeline suggested by Developing Lafayette was fairly accurate.
So, what beans can I spill?
THE DESIGN OF THE NEW MCDONALD'S
The final design of the building is still TBD, but Larry was able to tell me a few things about what we can expect in the new building.
First, it will have a double drive-thru lane design so that more than one vehicle can be served at a time.
The building will also have 3 "Drive-Thru" windows: one for the cashier, and two for what they call "presenting".
Larry explained the reasoning behind the 2nd "presenting" window and, in short, it's to save you time by keeping the line moving. You'll get your food quicker so you can be on your way.
The restaurant will also feature a "Family Experience" area. Though there were no specifics offered as to what features will adorn the area, I was assured that it would "enhance the family experience"; hence, the name.
The parking lot will feature spaces designated for "Curbside" orders, as the new restaurant will have 6 options for ordering:
- The traditional face-to-face counter service
- Drive-Thru service
- In-Lobby Kiosk service
- The McDonald's App
- Doordash
- Ubereats
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE LOCATION IN WALMART
This was one of the first questions I saw on the Developing Lafayette Facebook Page's story about the new location.
As of now, Larry says that Yvette's toddler has nothing to worry about: Miller Management has no plans to close the McDonald's located inside the Broussard Walmart.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE MCDONALD'S LOCATION ON HIGHWAY 90 IN BROUSSARD?
Larry told me a secret that he's been holding on to for many years, and it goes like this: ever since Miller Management acquired the Highway 90 location of McDonald's in Broussard back in 2018, it has been on the "relocate" list.
With Highway 90 getting readied to become Interstate 49, changes had to be made to the routing of traffic in the area. Those changes didn't do the Broussard location of McDonald's any favors.
As those changes took place, the crossover for Morgan Street was removed which forces vehicles coming from Downtown Broussard to turn right onto Highway 90. This change made it a little less convenient to visit McDonald's at that intersection.
If you are traveling east on Highway 90, you can take a left into McDonald's, but when you want to get back on your journey, you have to head west on Highway 90 and drive to the J-Turn to be on your way east.
Not a huge inconvenience, but enough of an inconvenience for some.
The current plan for the Highway 90 location of McDonald's calls for its closure as soon as the St. Nazaire location is up and running.
WHEN WILL THE ST NAZAIRE LOCATION BE UP AND RUNNING?
Another nail-on-the-head assumption by Developing Lafayette: Larry Miller told us that groundbreaking on the 208 St. Nazaire Road location of McDonald's should take place by the end of June, 2022.
Then, if all goes well and no SNAFUs are hit, the St. Nazaire location of McDonald's should be operational by "late fall, early winter, 2022".
WHO WILL BE RUNNING THE NEW LOCATION?
It looks like it might be time for the 3rd generation of Millers to shine!
Haley Miller, daughter of Larry and Denise and granddaughter of Rudy and Freda, will be at the helm of the new location of McDonald's on St. Nazaire Road.
Haley is a 2012 graduate of Catholic High of New Iberia, a 2016 graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, and a 2018 graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with an MBA.
So, there's the scoop on the newest McDonald's planned for Acadiana.
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