A new era at Bet-R

When Sony releases its big-budget alien invasion movie Battle: Los Angeles in March, Baton Rouge viewers will recognize the interior of Bet-R Supermarket, the unassuming independent grocery store near the Perkins Road overpass. Bet-R closed for four days in 2009 to lend its modest setting to the aliens vs. Marines picture, but its brush with fame is nowhere as important as its lengthy history or its relationship to an unusually diverse clientele, says owner-manager Cliff Boulden. As the store emerges from a recent expansion, Boulden says his focus is on customers, not movies. “I wouldn’t do it again,” says Boulden. “Close for that long? Absolutely not. A lot of our regulars really did not like it. I think a lot of them rely on us to be here.” Indeed, when producers of the new Twilight movie made an offer to film inside the store, Boulden turned it down, surprising many who figured the Battle: Los Angeles shoot helped finance the store’s 3,700-square-foot addition completed in November. “Everyone thinks that, but we were working on the expansion for several years,” he says. “We’ve been really trying to improve the experience of our customers and get the store into the mainstream.” Click here to read more about how Bet-R is expanding their business.—Maggie Heyn Richardson