Save A Lot could reopen 6 Chicago stores by November
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Six Save A Lot discount grocery stores could reopen by November, nearly two years after the company first announced renovation plans backed by city tax incentives.
Parent company Yellow Banana said the West Garfield Park store at 420 S. Pulaski Rd. is expected to have its grand reopening in early September, according to spokeswoman Sarah Griffin.
Three other stores in West Pullman, South Shore, South Chicago, are projected to reopen in October, with two stores in Auburn Gresham and West Lawn expected to reopen in November, "barring any further project delays."
The Chicago City Council approved $13.5 million in tax increment financing for Yellow Banana in 2022 to renovate those six stores, but none of them have yet to reopen.
"We are working closely with the appropriate parties to ensure work is moving forward in all six stores," Griffin said in a statement Tuesday morning to CBS News Chicago.
Save A Lot stores have not always been greeted warmly in Chicago.
In Englewood, many neighbors spent months protesting the opening of a Save A Lot store in the former Whole Foods space at 63rd and Halsted streets in 2023.
Neighbors and community leaders have said they can't trust the Save A Lot brand – saying the discount grocer has a reputation for selling a lackluster product.
"We just don't want Save A Lot - because of the product, and the smell, and the poor service," Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th) said before the Englewood store opened in May 2023.
At community meetings, city leaders say they tried to get other businesses to take over the old Whole Foods location in Englewood, but Save A Lot was the only corporation to show interest.
Yellow Banana executives have said they plan to operate Save A Lot stores differently than the discount chain has done historically, and to work with local leaders to make sure their concerns are heard.
Yellow Banana leaders said they would invest $26.5 million into their Chicago grocery stores on the South and West sides – with plans for full remodels and rebranding.