Schnuck Markets to shut converted Shop ’n Save store in Missouri

Schnuck Markets next month plans to close its South Oaks store in Green Park, Mo., a former Shop ’n Save location, due to underperformance.

Schnucks said Thursday that it won’t renew the lease on the 78,000-square-foot store, situated at 5780 South Lindbergh Blvd. in Green Park, and will shut the location on Feb. 28. The lease is scheduled to expire on March 31.

The South Oaks store has seen poor sales since its October 2018 reopening following a conversion from the Shop ’n Save banner, Schnucks reported. The St. Louis-based grocer acquired 20 Shop ’n Save stores — 19 supermarkets and one stand-alone drugstore — in a deal with Supervalu Inc. announced in September 2018.

Schnucks noted that the South Oaks store is located within about three miles of two other Schnucks supermarkets, its Concord Village store at 5434 Southfield Center (less than one mile away) and Affton store at 10070 Gravois Rd. (three miles away). 

“Shoppers in the area have overwhelmingly chosen instead to visit neighboring Schnucks stores much more frequently than the South Oaks location, and while it’s always a difficult decision to close a store, we simply could not find a path to profitability for this location,” Schnucks Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck said in a statement. “Our teammates have continued to serve our community as essential workers during the pandemic, and we are grateful that they will continue with us at other Schnucks locations at the same rate of pay. We are also grateful that our customers won’t have to travel far to visit us at other nearby Schnucks stores.” 

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Schnucks said the South Oaks store’s 66 employees will transition to other Schnucks supermarkets in the area and retain their same rate of pay. After that store closes, the retailer will operate 111 stores overall in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, including 80 in metropolitan St. Louis. 

Over the summer, Schnucks 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. 

In June, Schnucks permanently closed a supermarket in Alton, Ill., after it was temporarily shut amid the company’s response 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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Earlier, in March 2020, Schnucks acquired a 38,000-square-foot IGA supermarket in Mahomet, Ill., marking its fourth store in the Champaign-Urbana metro area. The store reopened under the Schnucks banner on April 1. Also last March, Schnucks announced the sale of its 110 retail pharmacies, along with its specialty pharmacy business, to CVS Health.

Last year also saw Schnucks upgrading its store base. In November, the retailer completed remodels of two stores in the downtown and Central West End areas of St. Louis that brought expanded fresh and prepared foods plus more self-service options. Formerly known as “Culinaria,” the downtown St. Louis store was rebannered as “Schnucks Downtown.” And in late June, Schnucks premiered a new store concept called EatWell, which targets consumers who prioritize health and wellness, natural foods and, as the company said, the “occasional splurge.”