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All seven Save A Lot stores across Chicago could shut down this summer after the company decided to end its partnership with the grocery operator Yellow Banana.
Deputy Commissioner Peter Strazzabosco from the Chicago Department of Planning and Development attributes the end of the partnership to the recent death of Yellow Banana CEO Joe Canfield and cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
“Yellow Banana, Save A Lot, DPD and other financial partners are discussing opportunities to keep the stores open with potential investors or new suppliers,” Strazzabosco told NBC 5 Chicago in a statement. “The City’s priority is for the stores to remain open with a current or new operator. If they go dark, the goal is for each building to expediently re-open with a full-service grocer.”
A spokesperson for Save A Lot said Yellow Banana is exploring options to keep the stores open, but if that doesn’t happen, the stores will close on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, these stores have continued to face significant challenges, including dramatic cuts to SNAP benefits which have severely impacted these stores. Compared to last year, the stores have experienced a 26% decline in SNAP/EBT tender types,” the spokesperson said.
Ribbon cuttings and grand reopening ceremonies tookplace after the city gave Yellow Banana $13.5 million to help refurbish six of the seven stores, which Strazzabosco said are supposed to stay open through 2035. Those six locations are as follows:
420 S. Pulaski Rd.
2858 E 83rd St.
4439 W. 63rd St.
7240 S. Stony Island Ave.
10700 S. Halsted St.
7908 S. Halsted St.
If the locations close, they must re-open as grocery stores within a year. Strazzabosco said the city is exploring every opportunity to recoup taxpayer funding, if necessary.
The seventh store, which is at 63rd and Halsted streets, could also close with the rest. It was supposed to remain open until next June. However, if it closes, a new grocer needs to reopen within 18 months.
“I’m going to continue to do my part to make the necessary investments. The hope is that our corporate leaders can come together to find a way. Again, the federal cuts have had a profound impact on our local grocery stores,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Multiple customers told NBC Chicago that closing the stores would leave them with few places to buy groceries.
“This will become a food desert. Finding grocery stores in this neighborhood is already hard as it is,” said Ebony Jones-Wright, who shops at the store near 79th and Halsted.
“You have to think about those that are on fixed income like the elderly people. It’s affordable for them. It’s close. It’s accessible. So, I really think it would be really detrimental to shut this store down within this community,” added customer Dominique Hill.
17th Ward Ald. David Moore, whose ward includes the store near 79th and Halsted, said he hopes Yellow Banana can find another supplier to work with.
“We have to make sure that we’re propping up small businesses to hopefully open and find operators that are willing to operate grocery stores in our communities, people that come from the community,” he said.
The stores facing closure are spread out across the South and West sides, including in West Lawn. 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn even worked there in high school.
“A lot of seniors live in the community. It’s sort of a grab-and-go after they go to St. Mary Star of the Sea Church — stop here for some groceries on the way home. There’s a little league field right across the street. This has always been a grocery store. It’s very, very important that it continues to be a grocery store,” Quinn said.
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