Schnuck Markets to close another converted Shop ’n Save store

This month, Schnuck Markets plans to shut down an underperforming store in Shrewsbury, Mo., marking the second former Shop ’n Save location to be shut in 2021.

St. Louis-based Schnucks said Friday that it won’t renew the lease on the 77,000-square-foot Shrewsbury store, slated to expire on Nov. 13. Plans call for the location, at at 7057 Chippewa St., to close permanently at 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 2.

Since its October 2018 acquisition from Supervalu, the Shrewsbury store has experienced poor sales, Schnucks noted. The supermarket is within three miles of two other Schnucks stores, in Hampton Village (60 Hampton Village Plaza, 1.5 miles away) and at Hampton and Gravois (7450 Hampton Ave., 2.5 miles away).

Schnucks said the Shrewsbury store’s 57 employers will transfer to other Schnucks locations in the area and retain the same rate of pay.

“Anytime a store lease comes up for renewal, we review its past and current performance as a normal course of business. Even in the midst of the pandemic, when other stores saw growth, our Shrewsbury location continued to underperform,” Schnucks Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck said in a statement. “We thank our loyal customers of that location and ask them to consider visiting us at one of our other nearby stores. We also thank our teammates for giving it their best and will work with each of them to find a nearby Schnucks location where they can continue to provide excellent customer service.”

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In late February, Schnucks closed its 78,000-square-foot South Oaks store in Green Park, Mo. — also a former Shop ’n Save — due to underperformance. The location’s lease, set to expire March 31, wasn’t renewed.

Overall, Schnuck had acquired 20 Shop ’n Save stores — 19 supermarkets and one stand-alone drugstore — in a deal with Supervalu announced in September 2018.

After the closure of the Shrewsbury location, Schnucks will operate 110 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, including 79 in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Schnucks last summer shut its only store in Iowa, which reduced its Midwestern market area to four states. The company closed the 61,000-square-foot supermarket in Bettendorf, Iowa, on Aug. 16, saying the location was unprofitable. And in June, the retailer permanently closed a supermarket in Alton, Ill., after it was temporarily shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. The retailer had announced in April that its Oakwood store wouldn’t be reopened after its lease expired. A converted Shop ’n Save supermarket, the 51,000-square-foot store experienced poor sales since its purchase from Supervalu, according to Schnucks.

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Later this year, Schnucks plans to open a new store in Jasper, Ind. — its seventh in the state — and after that its third store in Columbia, Mo. The 18,000-square-foot Jasper store will mark the debut of Schnucks Fresh, a new format with a heavy focus on fresh departments such as produce, meat, seafood and bakery.

Last June, the company launched a 42,000-square-foot specialty store dubbed “EatWell, A Natural Food Store by Schnucks” in Columbia. Schnucks had acquired the lease for the site last March in an auction by Lucky’s Market, which was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.