Chicago Save A Lot Locations to Get Upgrades
Yellow Banana, which owns and operates eight Save A Lot Chicago stores, will receive a multi-million dollar grant from the city to upgrade its locations.
Through a Community Development Grant, Yellow Banana will use the $13.5 million to modernize locations and re-open its store in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood that closed in 2020. The City’s grant, combined with other financing and funding from Yellow Banana, will bring approximately $26 million in investment into six locations in underserved communities throughout Chicago’s south and west sides.
The capital investments will be used to purchase the underlying real estate for six of the seven locations and to complete full internal and external remodels, including new flooring, lighting, HVAC, dairy and meat cases, interior and exterior painting, new décor and signage. Remodels will begin this fall with plans for completion, as well as the reopening of the Auburn-Gresham Save A Lot at 7908 S. Halsted, by year’s end.
Yellow Banana is owned by 127 Wall Holdings, LLC, which was co-founded by Michael Nance, Ademola Adewale-Sadik and Walker Brumskine. They are joined by seasoned operator and 127 Wall co-founder Joseph Canfield.
Yellow Banana, which currently owns and operates 38 stores in Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Jacksonville and Dallas, endeavors to deliver essential nutrition to working families at affordable prices. Today’s announcement furthers Yellow Banana’s efforts to partner with major U.S. cities in addressing food deserts and healthy food access in underserved communities.
“We know how critical access to high-quality food at affordable prices is in many of these neighborhoods—I myself having been raised in a community with many similarities—and we are honored to be able to serve them,” said Nance. “By updating these stores both inside and out and continuing to source fresh, affordable food at prices working families can afford, we can deliver a dignified, first-rate shopping experience for local families.”
“Quality brands at affordable prices are at the heart of Save A Lot's identity, and we are honored to be able to provide that to Chicagoans in underserved communities through our retail partners at Yellow Banana,” said Leon Bergmann, CEO of Save A Lot. “We’re confident in their ability to maximize the success of their stores by serving the Chicago community and giving these stores, and their customers, the attention and enhancements they deserve.”