Save A Lot sells remaining stores to cap off wholesale transition

Save A Lot is divesting its remaining corporate-owned and -operated stores, finishing its more than year-old transition to a full wholesale model.

Saint Ann, Missouri-based Save A Lot said Monday that it has agreed to sell 18 company-run stores in the St. Louis area to Leevers Supermarkets Inc., a current Save A Lot operator. Plans call for Castle Rock, Colorado-based Leevers to continue to operate the acquired stores under the Save A Lot banner.

In late December 2020, Save A Lot unveiled a plan to transition from a retailer to a wholesaler, in which the limited-assortment, discount grocery chain would sell more than 300 corporate-operated locations to current and new independent retailers licensed under its banner. That process wound down in February 2022, when Save A Lot officially announced its operation under a “pure-play wholesale model.” In its hometown St. Louis area, Save A Lot retained approximately 20 stores as a test market for new innovations and programs. Those locations now go to Leevers, which had purchased 17 metropolitan Philadelphia Save A Lots in 2021.

“As we’ve made a strategic shift to become a licensed wholesaler, it’s clear that our long-term growth momentum must be rooted in the success of our strong network of retail partners,” Save A Lot CEO Leon Bergmann stated. Bergmann was announced as Save A Lot’s new CEO in February 2022, about a week before the company reported its changeover to a wholesaler.

“Since its inception, Save A Lot has filled an important need as a discount, high-quality hometown grocer in each community it serves. Our retail partners are closest to and best-positioned to meet the needs of those customers,” he explained. “Their commitment to our brand and the consumer we serve is unmatched in the industry. The time was right for us to step fully into our role as a licensed wholesaler and put all operations in the hands of our dedicated retailers.”

Overall, Leevers now operates 29 Save A Lot stores in Colorado (14 locations), Pennsylvania (12) and New Jersey (three), primarily in the Denver and Philadelphia markets.

“We are proud to be a part of the Save A Lot network and are thrilled to grow our footprint with the brand,” said Leevers Supermarkets President and CEO Gabe Disbrow. “We remain fully committed to delivering an exceptional shopping experience with unmatched value to every shopper who walks through our doors. We’re looking forward to being a part of the St. Louis community.”

Save A Lot currently operates eight distribution centers—two were closed earlier this year—and serves more than 800 stores in 32 states.

Close coordination with retail partners to continue

Under the company’s wholesale business model, independent grocers own and operate Save A Lot supermarkets via a relicensing program and receive marketing and other support services, including private label.

Despite exiting brick-and-mortar grocery retail and calling the store sale to Leevers the “final chapter in Save A Lot’s wholesale transformation,” Save A Lot noted that it will continue to partner closely with retailers across its network to provide a base for testing new innovations and programs before broad deployments.

“We are excited to expand our collaboration with the Leevers team, who have been fantastic partners, strong operators and excellent ambassadors of the Save A Lot brand,” Bergmann added. “They join a strong and dedicated network of other retail partners in the St. Louis area to continue to provide first-rate leadership to many other retailers in our national network. We’re confident that with this change in our business, we are best positioned to achieve our long-term goal of enabling profitable sales growth for all Save A Lot retailers through our combination of world-class wholesale business and engaged retail support.”

Save A Lot’s discount grocery model focuses on localized assortments and local ownership. Company executives have said that approach enables independent grocers under the banner to cater their customers and communities while maintaining the benefits of a value grocery model: a heavy focus on private label (the majority of Save A Lot’s products) plus a limited assortment, low-cost operational model and easy-to-shop store layout.

On average, Save A Lot stores run about 16,000 square feet and carry 1,800 SKUs across more than 55 private brands. Through an everyday low pricing (EDLP) strategy, the retailer offers savings of up to 40% over conventional supermarkets on private- and national-brand products, USDA-inspected meat, farm-fresh produce and non-food items.