2016 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 76
BY SENATOR PERRY
A RESOLUTION
To commend John Dan Gielen for his numerous contributions to the community of Crowley
and the state of Louisiana, and for operating successful retail businesses for fifty
years.
WHEREAS, John Dan Gielen was born in Crowley, Louisiana, and attended St.
Michael's High School; and
WHEREAS, he received his Bachelor of Science degree at Mississippi College in
Clinton, Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gielen has been married to his wife, Peggy Angelle Gielen, for
more than fifty years and they have four children, twenty grandchildren, and eight
great-grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, he and his family have been lifelong members of St. Michael the
Archangel Catholic Church in Crowley; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gielen is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a former member
of the Acadia Parish School Board, and served on the board of directors of the National
Association of Tobacco Outlets; and
WHEREAS, in the mid-1960s, he pursued his dream of going into the convenience
store business and built the first Shop Rite on a corner location a few blocks from his
childhood home which still operates today; and
WHEREAS, Shop Rite was incorporated in May, 1966, and grew to twenty retail
convenience stores and supermarkets in South Louisiana in ten years that spanned sixty
miles west to Lake Charles and one hundred twenty-five miles east to Houma; and
WHEREAS, by the early 1990s, Shop Rite survived the oil bust of the 1980s and
continued to expand to what is now thirty-five locations; and
WHEREAS, in 1991, Mr. Gielen opened the first Tobacco Plus store and has
expanded the discounted retail concept to twenty-six stores throughout Louisiana; and
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WHEREAS, while growing the retail businesses, he expanded into the wholesale
business by purchasing Church Point Wholesale, a regional grocery and tobacco wholesaler
in 1991, and subsequently through the acquisition of Pelican Wholesale in Lake Charles in
the mid-1990s; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gielen's businesses, Shop Rite, Tobacco Plus, and Church Point
Wholesale, employ more than one thousand associates, staff, and clerical employees in
fifteen parishes throughout Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, he has been an avid supporter of the youth in Acadia Parish and been
recognized as Business Man of the Year by the Crowley Chamber of Commerce, and has
raised more than a million dollars for patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in
Memphis, Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, in 2012, Freedom Plaza was funded and built under the direction of Mr.
Gielen to pay tribute to members of the five branches of the armed services and includes a
monument featuring the names of deceased veterans from St. Landry, Lafayette, Vermilion
and Acadia parishes; and
WHEREAS, the success of the state of Louisiana, the strength of our communities,
and the overall vitality of American society depends, in great measure, upon the dedication
of people like John Dan Gielen who use their considerable talent and resources to increase
economic growth for future generations.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend John Dan Gielen for his numerous contributions to the community
of Crowley and the state of Louisiana, and for operating successful retail businesses for fifty
years, and does hereby record for posterity the pride and honor that he brings to his family,
friends, community, the state of Louisiana, and the United States.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to John
Dan Gielen.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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