Save-A-Lot - Wikipedia

American retail and grocery company Save A Lot Food Stores Ltd.

Company type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founded	1977; 49 years ago (1977), Cahokia, Illinois
Founder	Bill Moran
Headquarters	St. Ann, Missouri
Number of locations	720
Key people	Fred Boehler (CEO) Bill Mayo (Chief Operating Officer) Ben Hope (Chief Financial Officer) Mark Lacey (Chief Human Resources Officer) Dave Buffa (Chief Legal Officer) Jennifer Hopper (Chief Information & Digital Officer) Chris Stanley (Senior Vice President Distribution Operations)
Products	Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, produce, snacks, seafood, liquor
Owner	Supervalu (1994–2016)Onex Corporation (2016–2020)
Website	savealot.com

Save A Lot Food Stores Ltd. is an American discount supermarket chain store headquartered in St. Ann, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis.[1] It has about 720 independently owned and operated stores across 32 states in the United States with over $2.6 billion[2] in annual sales.

Stores carry most grocery products, with an assortment of fresh, canned and frozen produce, meat, meal products, household items and everyday groceries. Save A Lot grocery stores sell national brands and private label brands at a discounted price. A typical Save A Lot grocery store is 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) with items displayed in their cardboard shipping boxes.

History

[edit]

Save A Lot was founded in 1977 by Bill Moran as an alternative to larger supermarkets. He opened the first Save A Lot store in Cahokia, Illinois, and remained with the company until his retirement in 2006.

In 1978, General Grocer Company expanded the company's presence in the greater St. Louis area. Eventually, the store network grew to 30 stores by the end of the decade. At the root of company's growth strategy is its licensee relationship, in which Save A Lot acts as a wholesaler to its independent store owners as opposed to a franchisor. Smaller, independent grocery retailers soon found the limited assortment model to be an effective defensive strategy against the larger chain supermarkets. With help from new licensees, in 1980 alone Save A Lot added 50 stores in the Mid-South region, and a warehouse in Jackson, Tennessee.

In 1984, Save A Lot purchased 75 similar format Jewel T stores and two distribution centers from Jewel in Florida and Pennsylvania. In 1987, Save A Lot was purchased by St. Louis-based food retailer and wholesaler Wetterau Inc, then owner of former sister stores Shop 'n Save.

Acquisition by SuperValu, 1994–2016

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In 1994, both the Save A Lot and Shop 'n Save banners became wholly owned subsidiaries of Supervalu Inc, one of the largest independent grocery wholesalers, and the owners of Cub Foods and Scott's Food & Pharmacy at the time. The acquisition opened up Save A Lot's licensee opportunities to conventional Supervalu-supplied operators, including Niemann Foods.

Save A Lot expanded into Southern California with the purchase of 21 discount-grocery Sav U Foods stores, and a distribution center from the Fleming Companies in late 1996.

In 2002, Save A Lot acquired discount variety store chain Deals with 45 stores in the Midwest. The typical Deal$ store had a slightly smaller footprint than Save A Lot and carried mostly non-food merchandise at dollar-increment price points. The Deal$ concept was expanded under Save A Lot to 138 stores by 2006. The acquisition also allowed Save A Lot grocery stores to stock more general merchandise in its grocery stores. The company experimented with hypermarkets which combined the discount grocery and merchandise concepts under one roof. This eventually led to 480 combination stores that did not carry the Deal$ banner. In 2006, Save A Lot sold Deal$ to Dollar Tree for $30.5 million plus inventory.[3] Save A Lot reduced the amount of general merchandise in its combination stores and returned them to its grocery-focused model.

In 2009, Save A Lot expanded its presence internationally. In the Caribbean, Save A Lot opened the first three international licensee grocery stores in Aruba, Freeport- Bahamas and Dominica. Expansion continued with secondary locations opening in Aruba and 8 mile Rock-Bahamas. International interest and growth continued with additional stores opening in St. Vincent, Curaçao, Trinidad and Tobago- (Mount Hope and Diego Martin). From the Caribbean, expansion moved to Central America establishing the brand with the opening of two retail sites in Guatemala City. Grenada was the last international licensee scheduled opening. As of 2018, with the change of corporate ownership the overall corporate strategy shifted to focus all efforts on stateside store growth. The international retail licenses were dissolved and existing international accounts were converted to wholesale accounts. The international stores no longer operate under the Save A Lot brand name or Save A Lot Licensee agreement but as independent retailers.

In late 2009, newly hired Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert announced the goal to double the Save A Lot grocery store network to 2,400 locations within five years.[4] The company opened nearly 100 stores in 2010 with a major focus on the Southeastern United States.

Save A Lot entered into a licensing affiliation with Hispanic grocer Rafael Ortega to rebrand six former Save A Lots in Houston, Texas, and South Texas as "El Ahorro Save A Lot".[5] new stores featured Save A Lot product offerings along with more traditional Hispanic staples.

In late 2010, Rite Aid became a licensed Save A Lot operator when it converted 10 of its existing pharmacies in the Greenville, South Carolina, area to co-branded "Save A Lot/Rite Aid" units.[6]

In September 2012, Supervalu announced it would close 22 Save A Lot stores in seven states.[7][8] Several executive changes were made by Supervalu on March 4, 2013, including replacing Save-A-Lot CEO Roces with Ritchie Casteel. This came in the midst of plans by Supervalu to sell a number of its other grocery chains to Cerberus Capital Management.[9]

Sale to Onex Corporation, 2016–2020

[edit]

In October 2016, SuperValu sold Save A Lot to Onex Corporation.[10] In April 2020, Save A Lot completed a recapitalization of the business with the company's lenders that canceled approximately $500 million in debt and provided a $350 million capital infusion to the company.[11] Save A Lot is now privately held by institutional investors.

Transition to wholesale model, 2020–2023

[edit]

In early 2020, Save-a-Lot began a financial restructuring towards a wholesale model in order to reduce its debt load. It sought to no longer operate its locations and instead license them off to independent retailers.[12]

List of deals, 2020–2023

operator	date	stores
Fresh Encounter	Dec 2020	51 stores in the Tampa, Florida area[12]
Yellow Banana (127 Wall Holdings)	Sep 2021	32 stores in Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin[12]
Ascend Grocery	Dec 2021	33 stores in the greater Orlando, Florida area[12]
Ascend Grocery	Oct 2023	4 stores in Jacksonville
Leevers Supermarket	Dec 2023	18 stores in the St. Louis area

In August 2023, Save-a-Lot revealed that the remaining 18 stores that it operated directly were to be acquired by Leevers Supermarkets. Leevers is an employee-owned company that also operate Leevers Locavore, El Mercado De Colorado, and had already been operating 29 Save-a-Lots.[13][14] As of February 2024, Leevers Supermarkets operated a total of 52 Save-a-Lots (14 in Colorado, 20 in the mid-Atlantic, and 18 in the greater St Louis area).[15]

References

[edit]

1. ^ Barker, Jacob. "Save-A-Lot wrapping up grocery chain's headquarters move to former Northwest Plaza mall". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
2. ^ "Save-A-Lot: Revenue, Competitors, Alternatives". growjo.com. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
3. ^ "Dollar Tree to buy Deal$ for $30.5M". American City Business Journals. February 22, 2006.
4. ^ Sterrett, David (January 30, 2010). "Supervalu Inc. sees local growth potential for Jewel-Osco's discount sibling, Save-A-Lot". Crain Communications.
5. ^ "Save-A-Lot Unveils Partnership for Hispanic Stores". Supermarket News. July 21, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
6. ^ Zwiebach, Elliot (September 13, 2010). "Save-A-Lot, Rite Aid to Test Co-Branded Stores". Supermarket News. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
7. ^ Johnsen, Michael (September 5, 2012). "Supervalu announces additional store closures". Drug Store News. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012.
8. ^ "Supervalu closing 22 Save-A-Lot stores". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 6, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
9. ^ Solomont, E.B. (March 4, 2013). "Supervalu shakes up leadership of Save-A-Lot, Shop 'N Save". St. Louis Business Journal.
10. ^ Serafino, Phil; Giammona, Craig; Deveau, Scott (October 17, 2016). "Supervalu to Sell Save-A-Lot Chain to Onex for $1.37 Billion". Bloomberg News.
11. ^ Springer, Jon (April 2, 2020). "Save A Lot Nets $350M in Recapitalization". Supermarket News.
12. ^ a b c d Sam Silverstein (2022-01-22). "Save A Lot sells 33 locations as it continues shift to local ownership". Retrieved 2024-02-06.
13. ^ "Save A Lot Acquired by Leevers Supermarkets". Specialty Food Association. 2023-08-08. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
14. ^ "Save A Lot Sells Remaining Corporate Stores, Completes Transition to 100% Licensed Wholesaler". Business Wire. 2023-08-07. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
15. ^ "Leevers Supermarkets". Retrieved 2024-02-05.

1. "Save A Lot shifts to wholesale model". Supermarket News. December 28, 2020.
2. Obtaining a Grocery Store License | Save a Lot

v t e Onex Corporation
Subsidiaries	Hawker Beechcraft Tomkins plc Carestream Health Save-A-Lot WestJet (75%)
Corporate directors	Peter Godsoe Arianna Huffington John B. McCoy Robert Prichard Heather Reisman Gerry Schwartz

v t e Supermarkets in the United States
Kroger	Dillons Baker's Gerbes Food 4 Less Fred Meyer Fry's Harris Teeter King Soopers City Market Kroger Jay C Pay Less QFC Ralphs Roundy's Mariano's Ruler Foods Smith's
Albertsons	Acme Andronico's Albertsons Balducci's Carrs Haggen Jewel-Osco Kings Super Markets Lucky Pavilions Randalls Safeway Shaw's and Star Market Super Saver Tom Thumb United Supermarkets Vons
United Natural Foods	County Market Cub Shoppers
Ahold Delhaize	Food Lion Giant Food Giant Food Stores Hannaford Stop & Shop
Save Mart	Save Mart Supermarkets Lucky Stores Lucky California Food Maxx MaxxValue Foods
Amazon	Amazon Fresh Amazon Go Whole Foods
SpartanNash	D&W Fresh Market Family Fare Martin's Super Markets No Frills Supermarkets
Other national	Aldi Trader Joe's Costco Comissary/DeCa (military) The Fresh Market IGA Save-A-Lot Sprouts Target Walmart Sam's Club
Regional	Asian 99 Ranch Market Great Wall Supermarket H Mart Hong Kong Supermarket Island Pacific Supermarket Kam Man Food Marukai Mitsuwa Marketplace Nijiya Market Patel Brothers Seafood City SF Supermarket Uwajimaya Zion Market Hispanic Bravo El Ahorro Supermarket Fiesta Mart La Perla Tapatía Supermarkets Sedano's Supermercados Teloloapan Vallarta Supermarkets Organic Earth Fare Fresh Thyme Natural Grocers Wholesale BJ's Wholesale Club Chef'Store Otherregional Acme Fresh Market Amigo Big Y Boyer's Bristol Farms Brookshire Brothers Brookshire's Food & Pharmacy Buehler's C-Town Central Market D'Agostino Dave's Markets Dean & DeLuca DeMoulas Market Basket Dierbergs Don Quijote Times Supermarkets Dorothy Lane Market Fairway Market Fareway Farm Fresh Festival Foods Festival Foods (Minnesota) Food Giant Food City Foodarama FoodLand Foodtown Pathmark Gelson's Gerland Corporation Gerrity's Giant Eagle Grand Union Gristedes Grocery Outlet Harmons Harps Food Stores H-E-B Heinen's Highland Park Market Homeland Hornbacher's Houchens Hugo's Hy-Vee Ingles Jerry's Foods Jungle Jim's International Market Karns Quality Foods Key Food Super Fresh The Food Emporium KJ's Market King Kullen Kowalski's Markets Kuhn's Quality Foods Lewis Food Town Lidl Lowe's Market Lowes Foods Lucky's Market Lunds & Byerlys Magruder's Marc's Market Basket (Louisiana and Texas) Market of Choice Masons Red Owl Meijer Met Foods Mollie Stone's Markets Morton Williams Mother's Market & Kitchen New Grand Mart New Seasons Market Niemann Foods Northeast Grocery Tops Friendly Markets Price Chopper Supermarkets Market 32 Nugget Markets PCC Community Markets Petrini's Piggly Wiggly Pink Dot Price Chopper / Price Mart Publix Pueblo Raley's Supermarkets AJ's Fine Foods Bashas' Reasor's Redner's Markets Remke Markets Rice Epicurean Markets Ridley's Family Markets Roche Bros. Rosauers Supermarkets Rouses Russ's Market Schnucks Scolari's Food and Drug Seabra Foods Sellers Bros. Sendik's Food Market Sentry Foods Seven Mile Market Shop 'n Save Smart & Final Southeastern Grocers Harveys Supermarkets Winn-Dixie Stater Bros. Stew Leonard's Strack & Van Til Straub's Markets Sullivan Family of Companies Foodland Hawaii Supermercados Econo Supermercados Selectos Super Dollar Discount Foods Super King Markets Super One Foods Super Saver Foods (B&R Stores) United Grocery Outlet URM Stores Wakefern The Fresh Grocer Price Rite ShopRite Weaver Street Market Wegmans Weis Markets Westborn Market Western Beef WinCo Foods Woodman's Markets Yoke's Fresh Market Zabar's Zupan's Markets
Defunct	365 by Whole Foods Market A-Mart A&P Food Basics Pathmark Waldbaum's ABCO Foods Alpha Beta AppleTree Markets Belle Foods Best Market Big Bear Stores Big Star Markets Bloom Bottom Dollar Food Bruno's Buttrey Food & Drug Byrd's Carter's Foods Chatham Clemens Markets Colonial Stores Dahl's Foods Daniel Reeves Stores David's Supermarkets Davis Food City Delchamps Dick's Supermarket Dominick's Eagle Food Centers Easy-Way Store Eberhard's Eisner Food Stores Farmer Jack Fazio's Shopping Bag Felpausch Finast Fisher Foods Food Fair Food World Food-a-rama Fresh & Easy Furr's Genuardi's Giant Open Air Glen's Markets Hamady Henry's Farmers Market Hills Supermarkets Hinky Dinky Jewel T Jitney Jungle Johnnie's Foodmaster Kohl's Food Stores Kessel Food Markets Laneco Market Basket (California) Marketside Mars Marsh Supermarkets Más Club Mi Pueblo Food Center Minyard Food Stores National Supermarkets National Tea Omni Superstore Owen's Penn Fruit Penn Traffic Pick-N-Pay Supermarkets Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. Plus Purity Supreme Quality Markets QFI Rainbow Foods Red Food Reid's SaveRite Sage's Schaffer Stores Company Scott's Seaway Food Town Seessel's Shop 'n Save Simon David Skaggs Companies Southern Family Markets Stanley Stores Sunflower Farmers Market Sunflower Market Super Duper Sweetbay Supermarket Tidyman's Twin Valu Ukrop's Super Markets Valu King Victory Supermarkets Weingarten's Wild Oats Markets Xpect Discounts