Yellow Banana, a grocery retail platform that owns and operates eight Save A Lot locations in the Chicagoland area, today announced its $26.5 million investment in six Chicago grocery stores.
Through this project, the platform will upgrade its existing stores as well as re-open a former Save A Lot that closed in 2020. The transaction comes soon after Walmart announced the closure of four Chicago locations.
Yellow Banana is owned by 127 Wall, which was co-founded by Michael Nance, Ademola Adewale-Sadik, and Walker Brumskine.
“Where people grow up or live should not determine their access to healthy, affordable food options,” said Nance in a statement. “We look forward to providing residents on Chicago’s South and West Sides with a repositioned, quality grocery experience, and we are eager to engage with them as we determine the appropriate offerings for these locations. We understand that local engagement and collaboration will make these stores a success.”
The investments will be used to acquire the underlying real estate at five of Yellow Banana’s existing stores and at the recently closed site. Yellow Banana will then complete internal and external redevelopments at each location, including new flooring, lighting, equipment, HVAC, dairy and meat cases, interior and exterior paint, décor, fixtures, and signage.
“Yellow Banana’s triple commercial mandate is to deliver food access, job creation, and economic development to our customers, colleagues, and communities,” said Adewale-Sadik in a statement. “Transforming these six sites into the community anchor tenants that these neighborhoods deserve will attract much-needed commercial activity over both the short and long terms, and this doubling down of our commitment to Chicago is in keeping with our mandate.”
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