Two more Save A Lots reopen in Chicago

Two more Save A Lot stores in Chicago, part of a group of supermarkets that faced long remodeling delays, opened this week.

The locations are at 10700 S. Halsted Street in the West Pullman neighborhood and 2858 E. 83rd Street in South Chicago. Both officially reopened on Thursday.

The first 100 customers received giveaways, including a free tote bag filled with Save A Lot items. The stores will also offer a $10 gift card giveaway on Saturday.

The West Pullman and South Chicago stores are among six owned by Yellow Banana that underwent renovations, which pushed back the reopening of each by several months.

The West Garfield Park Save A Lot was the first in the group to welcome back shoppers, reopening in September. The final three locations—in the South Shore, Auburn Gresham, and West Lawn neighborhoods—are expected to reopen in December.

Yellow Banana, a minority-owned grocery store chain based in Cleveland, has been carrying out a comprehensive internal and external redevelopment at each location. This work included new flooring, lighting, equipment, HVAC systems, dairy and meat cases, interior and exterior paint, fixtures, and signage.

Originally, the Auburn Gresham location was scheduled to open first, but an unexpected subsurface issue required additional geotechnical work and investigations, delaying redevelopment by several months.

Yellow Banana also held several community town halls to gather feedback from concerned residents.

The grocer was offered $13.5 million in subsidies from the city of Chicago to rehab and open the six Save A Lot stores by March 2025. It will not receive the money until all locations are operational. In total, Yellow Banana received $26 million, including tax increment financing, loans, and federal grants.