Schnucks to close location in Illinois

Schnuck Markets plans to shut a supermarket next month in East Alton, Ill., as part of ongoing efforts to optimize its store locations.

Schnucks said Friday that it won’t renew the lease for the 22,000-square-foot store, situated at 634 Berkshire Blvd. in the Wilshire Village shopping center, and will close the location at 6 p.m. on Aug. 4.

The St. Louis-based regional grocer said the East Alton store had “consistently suffered from poor sales” since being acquired last October 2018. The company also noted that it operates three other stores — in Wood River, Bethalto and Alton — within 4.5 miles of the Wilshire Village location.

“We open stores only when we believe they will be both a preferred choice for shoppers and successful for our company,” said Todd Schnuck, company chairman and CEO, in a statement. “But in this instance, our customers are increasingly bypassing this store in favor of one of our three nearby stores instead.”

Schnucks said all of the East Alton store’s 27 employees will be offered transfers to nearby markets and retain their same rate of pay.

In addition, the retailer plans to deposit $15 in Schnucks Rewards points into the account of each loyalty program member who designated the Wilshire Village location as their home store as of July 3. The points will be deposited automatically on Aug. 4. Points also will be awarded to customers who had made more Rewards purchases at Wilshire Village, as of July 3, than any other Schnucks store.

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“This is a way for us to thank Wilshire Village customers who have been loyal to this store long before we acquired it, while also encouraging them to continue shopping with us at one of our eight other Madison County stores or any Schnucks store they choose,” Schnuck commented.

This year, Schnucks has closed three stores, two of which it described as underperforming. The company said it shut its store at 10634 St. Charles Rock Rd. in St. Ann, Mo., on May 5 because of poor sales and its store at 1275 North Truman Blvd. in Festus, Mo., on June 30 because it was unable to reach a lease renewal agreement. The Schnucks supermarket at 110 Carlyle Plaza Dr. in Belleville, Ill., closed its doors on March 24 after the chain said the store was unprofitable and decided not to renew the lease.

Overall, Schnucks now operates 116 supermarkets in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa. The retailer has said it will continue to seek potential new store sites in metropolitan St. Louis, where it operates more than 75% of its stores.

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This past fall, Schnucks’ store base swelled after the company acquired 20 Shop ‘n Save locations in Missouri and Illinois, including one stand-alone pharmacy, from Supervalu Inc. Schnucks reopened the stores under its own banner in October. During 2018, the retailer also opened stores in Warrenton and Maplewood, Mo., and closed two older stores in Rockford, Ill.