7 Save A Lot Stores on South, West Sides Could Close In Days As Owners Face ‘Financial Headwinds’

CHICAGO — Seven Save A Lot grocery stores across the South and West sides are at risk of closing Saturday if the company that owns and operates them doesn’t find an alternative investor or new supplier to help keep the locations afloat. 

Save A Lot “made the difficult decision” to end its agreement with operator Yellow Banana following “significant financial headwinds,” including recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), company officials said in a statement Tuesday. 

The discount grocer has worked with the Ohio-based Yellow Banana since 2023 to operate the grocery stores across the city’s South and West sides. When those stores faced financial difficulties under the Ohio-based company’s ownership, Save A Lot took on additional operational responsibilities — including reportedly supplying and paying for inventory — to keep the stores open, company officials said. 

The stores have also experienced a 26 percent decline in SNAP sales compared to last year, company officials said. Changes to the federal food assistance program under President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” are expected to impact 360,000 Illinoisans, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said previously. More than 1.5 million people in Illinois received SNAP benefits as of June, down by over 200,000 compared to January, state data shows. 

Yellow Banana is exploring other options to keep the stores open, Save A Lot officials said. If they’re unable to find an alternative, the stores will close Saturday, company officials said. 

“We are committed to the well-being of the communities we serve,” Save A Lot officials said in the Tuesday statement. “We will continue to engage with City and Community leaders to explore ways to provide access to quality food and services for residents, and we are actively supporting impacted Yellow Banana team members throughout the transition.” 

Yellow Banana swept onto the scene in 2022 with promises to renovate a vacant Save A Lot store in Auburn Gresham which company officials said was “beat to all hell.” At the time, the company operated 38 Save A Lot stores across the country. 

Later that year, the City Council approved $13.5 million in tax-increment financing (TIF) funds and another $13 million in New Market Tax Credits and private funding for Yellow Banana to buy and rehabilitate six stores across the South and West sides.

A redevelopment agreement with the city required the company to open all six stores by March 2025 or lose the TIF dollars. The company would receive the $13.5 million grant only after the stores were remodeled and reopened, according to the agreement. 

Following numerous delays, four locations in West Garfield Park, 420 S. Pulaski Road; West Pullman, 10700 S. Halsted St.; South Chicago, 2858 E. 83rd St.; and South Shore, 7240 S. Stony Island Ave., opened in 2024.  

Two locations in Auburn Gresham, 7908 S. Halsted St., and West Lawn,  4439 W. 63rd St., opened in 2025. 

Yellow Banana also operates a Save A Lot store in Englewood, 832 W. 63rd St. The store opened quietly in 2023 at the site of the former Whole Foods following months of pushback and protests from neighbors opposed to the grocer moving in.

An occupancy agreement required the six stores to remain open through 2035 and the Englewood store to remain open until June 2027. 

In the years following the City Council approval, Yellow Banana faced missed deadlines, protests, legal disputes, sudden closures and scathing national headlines. In April, CEO Joe Canfield died of a stroke at the age of 54. 

Yellow Banana, Save A Lot, the city’s Department of Planning and Development and other financial partners are “discussing opportunities” with potential investors or new suppliers to keep the stores open, said Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner at the city’s Planning Department. 

If the stores close, the six locations that received TIF funding must be reoccupied by a grocer within a year to avoid defaults, Strazzabosco said. The Englewood store must be reoccupied in 18 months. 

“The City is exploring every opportunity to recoup taxpayer funding, if necessary,” Strazzabosco said. 

Yellow Banana flagged the issues at their stores about two months ago, “but assured they could get through it,” said Ald. David Moore (17th), whose ward includes the Auburn Gresham store. Two weeks ago, he heard about the company “feeling the impact” of a reduction to SNAP benefits, he said. 

Yellow Banana and the city are “working diligently to avoid closures,” Moore said. 

“Until Yellow Banana says that they’re going to close because they can’t find another supplier, that’s when I’m going to get more concerned,” Moore said. “I have not heard that from Yellow Banana.” 

Save A Lot’s decision to end its agreement with Yellow Banana wasn’t made overnight given the company’s months of financial hardships, “but it is an overnight decision for the community,” said Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st), whose ward includes the West Pullman store. 

Neighbors appreciated the cleanliness at the Far South Side stores since its grand reopening, Mosley said. The renovated location was down the street from Mosley’s ward office, he said. He often walked over to check on the store and its team and “people were pumped and attentive,” Mosley said. 

“It has fulfilled a lot of the expectations that the community wanted from Save A Lot, but again, if they don’t have the dollars to shop there, then they can’t shop there.” 

As officials cut the ribbon on an upgraded Save A Lot store in West Pullman in 2024, Aldi abruptly closed its Far South Side location.  

Now that the Far South Community Development Corporation could soon bring a new grocery model with a smaller format to the community, the West Pullman Save A Lot could soon close.  

“We have to figure out how residents can have access to fresh, quality produce,” Mosley said.