Save-A-Lot food stores Business Overview

About Save-A-Lot food stores

Save-A-Lot stores bring discount groceries to neighborhoods across the US. In fact, there are more than 1,300 Save-a-Lot stores nationwide in urban, suburban and rural areas. As one of the nation's leading extreme value, carefully selected assortment grocery chains, they deliver their customers terrific savings on discount groceries, up to 40% compared to conventional grocery stores.

Company History

Save-A-Lot history begins with just a single store in 1977. Since then, Save-A-Lot has grown into one of the largest U.S. grocery store chains. From day one, their objective has been to deliver high quality foods at a great value to their customers.

While working for a grocery wholesaler in the mid-'70s, company founder Bill Moran identified an opportunity for small grocers to compete against emerging mega-stores and created Save-A-Lot's limited assortment business model. When the first store opened in Cahokia, IL, in 1977, the format was immediately successful.

In 1977, General Grocer Co. adopted Moran's idea of the carefully selected assortment format and opened five additional stores in the St. Louis, MO area. Within a year, word-of-mouth advertising helped spread awareness and Save-A-Lot expanded to 29 locations. By 1980, Save-A-Lot added 52 locations and opened a warehouse in Jackson, TN. Now reaching shoppers in several states, Save-A-Lot’s rank among other regional and U.S. grocery store chains continued to increase.

In 1983, General Grocer sold Save-A-Lot exclusively to Moran. And five years later, Save-A-Lot was acquired by Wetterau Incorporated, a St. Louis, MO-based food wholesaler and retailer. This was an exciting time in Save-A-Lot history. Save-A-Lot expanded aggressively including the purchase of 76 Jewel T stores (at the time, one of the other few U.S. grocery store chains with discounted items) and two additional warehouses, one in Pennsylvania and one in Florida.

In 1993, SUPERVALU INC. acquired Wetterau and, with it, Save-A-Lot. Save-A-Lot remains a wholly owned subsidiary of SUPERVALU.

In 2006: Save-A-Lot founder Bill Moran announced his retirement after almost 30 years leading the company. Bill Shaner, a 25-year food industry veteran and former Chief Operating Officer of the company, was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Save-A-Lot. While this change of leadership is a notable event in Save-A-Lot history, they have continued to stay true to the values and vision that Bill Moran first set forth — offering a quality selection of the low-priced products their shoppers need every day.