Save A Lot reopens in West Lawn, the last of 6 grocery stores opening under $26M city deal

West Lawn residents will no longer have to venture outside the neighborhood to buy groceries after a renovated Save A Lot opened Wednesday morning.

A line of eager shoppers were outside the store, including Mary Kay Rosado who was excited to be at the opening. She was carrying a heavy giveaway bag filled with two large jars of mayonnaise, boxed macaroni and cheese, cornbread mix and other goodies.

“I normally do my shopping at Aldi; I have to take a car,” Rosado said. “I was looking forward to seeing the fresh produce, and I get tired of having to hop in my car. I like the closeness of it, and I hope the prices will be good.”

The store's opening, at 4439 W. 63rd St., comes two years after owner and operator Yellow Banana signed a $26 million redevelopment agreement with the city of Chicago to open six Save A Lot stores.

Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) said his southwest ward residents often traveled to nearby suburbs to buy their groceries. Now, they can stay in the neighborhood.

“When I was in high school I worked here,” Quinn said. “So I have an idea how important this grocery store is for our community. So today, it's a win for the West Lawn community.”

A free reusable bag of grocery items were handed to shoppers, as part of six days of giveaways. And "Vivir Mi Vida" by singer Marc Anthony pulsed from the DJ booth in the recently renovated store.

“We used to have to drive my mom far away, like to the Sam’s Club in Hodgkins or to Costco,” said Alicia Serna at the grand opening.

The new store changes things for Serna and her husband, Javier.

“I’ll take her here, and it's closer.And they got a lot of variety of stuff too,” she said. “Before it was a little like … you wouldn’t want to go in there."

Yellow Banana CEO Joe Canfield and Chicago Department of Planning and Developing Commissioner Ciere Boatright were also on hand to celebrate the reopening. The store had closed for renovations.

The West Lawn store is the last of six locations on the South and West sides to be reopened and renovated under Yellow Banana's city deal, aiming to improve grocery access in communities that need it. Stores opened under the deal are required to remain open for 10 years.

“We're very, very pleased that we were able to fulfill our commitment to remodel and reopen grocery stores in communities that really, really need grocery stores,” Canfield said.

But Yellow Banana has been fraught with controversy, beginning with protests at the first store opening in Englewood. The Englewood location, at 832 W. 63rd St., was a former Whole Foods and is not part of Yellow Banana's city deal.

Issues continued for the Ohio-based company with unpaid taxes, expired food, and millions in lawsuit debt and local violations. The company’s original portfolio of 38 stores in five states shrank to just the Chicago stores last year.

The first renovated store was promised to open 2 1/2 years ago, but the first renovated Save a Lot West Garfield Park didn't open until last fall. Meanwhile, the company racked up over $2 million in fines, lawsuits and debts to cities and vendors.

The West Lawn opening also comes after Canfield asked the city for an extension on its two-year deal, which would have ended March 31. If Yellow Banana met its requirements last month and the city found the company compliant in all other areas according to the development deal, it would have been set to receive its funding.

In a letter to Boatright, Canfield said it needed more time, citing a delay in store signage, an issue previously reported by the Sun-Times. Boatright approved the extension, giving the company six more months to wrap up the project.

“They had just normal construction activity … but it’s just been hyper evident that they've had some some hiccups. But they're not atypical for construction projects, both rehabs and new construction,” Boatright told the Sun-Times at the reopening. “We'll continue to go through our due diligence for any compliance before any funding is released.”

“This is truly a community grocery store, and I think that's what I want everyone to remember when they think about the store,” Canfield said at the reopening. “So Ald. Quinn, in a very polite way, has told me it is not an option to fail at this location. ‘I need you to be successful. I'm demanding you be successful.’ That’s great. That's fair … we are very serious about the commitment.”