Englewood residents protest Save A Lot store in former Whole Foods site
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Neighbors are saying no to a Save A Lot store that was hours away from its scheduled opening in Englewood.
Dozens of people protested outside the store at 832 W. 63rd St. off Halsted Street Wednesday. They object to the store opening in the former location of the Englewood Whole Foods, which shut down last year.
As CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reported, the owners of the Save A Lot say they are taking feedback in real time after meeting with protesters in real time. They will now meet with the community and the alderman in Englewood before officially opening the store.
During then protest, community organizers in Englewood blocked the door at the new Save A Lot store, chanting, "Break the lease if you want peace." The owners inside were offering a "preview event" at the time.
But neighbors said they never got the invite to the preview event. Now, they are fighting the store altogether – saying the discount grocer has a reputation for selling a lackluster product.
"It's like they're in Englewood, so they don't deserve fresh fruit and vegetables and stuff – they'll take what they can give us," said Darlene Green.
Green said she would not shop at the Save A Lot.
"No," she said. "I can't afford to feed this to my grandson."
At community meetings, city leaders say they tried to get other businesses to take over the store. But Save A Lot – operated by Yellow Banana – was the only corporation to show interest.
Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th) says the community has not felt heard in what should go in the empty store site.
"We want a fresh, affordable, preferably Black-owned – but we want a grocery operator that's going to have employees that look like us in our community," Coleman said.
"We want to have a real conversation with our community," said Asiaha Butler, chief executive officer of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood.
After an hour of tense back-and-forth outside the store with the protesters, the owners vowed to hold off on officially opening.
"We are here to reopen this store to provide a service in this neighborhood," said co-owner Michael Nance, a founder of Yellow Banana. "We've gotten feedback from that community. They want a meeting with Save A Lot corporate. We've heard that from them loud and clear."
"We have agreed to meet with the alderman and her representatives to kind of talk about what they'd like to see from us, and how we can get things off to a better track," said Yellow Banana chief executive officer Joe Canfield.
The owners believe at issue is the Save A Lot reputation. They say the store plans to operate differently than the discount chain has historically.
The plan includes hiring employees from the neighborhood, operating a locally-run coffee shop inside, and hiring hot food vendors – like Lakisha Hunter from Englewood.
"Owners have to change the narrative," Hunter said. "It's going to take time."
After the official meeting of the minds, there is no official date for the opening of the store just yet. But the owners will now be donating any perishable food – and the food that was prepared for the soft opening this week - to a local shelter in Englewood.