Owners of Red Stick Spice Co. move, put business up for sale

Red Stick Spice Co., one of the Capital Region’s more unique local food retailers, is up for sale, nearly three years after opening its doors at 7970 Jefferson Hwy. Asking price for the company—which sells spices, spice blends, loose teas, sea salts and infused olive oils—is $105,000, and includes the company’s inventory, recipes, branded material, website and list of nearly 7,000 customer contacts. “Our initial goal was to stay in south Louisiana and expand the business,” says Gloria Easterwood, who opened Red Stick Spice Co. with her husband, Lee Easterwood, in January 2010. “But things didn’t work out that way.” Lee Easterwood took a job earlier this year with a large credit union in southern California, where the couple lived prior to moving to Baton Rouge, and they decided to relocate there. Gloria Easterwood says business at the company was good and that sales had grown steadily over the past three years. So far, she says, she has had a couple of interested buyers but no deals are on the table yet. “We have a great repeat customer base, and we’re still getting a lot of new customers through word of mouth,” she says. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s not hard. You just have be a good people person, and be yourself and be creative.” —Stephanie Riegel