Yellow Banana – an owner and operator of eight Save A Lot locations in the Chicagoland area – announced the March 31, 2023 closing of a $26.5 million investment into grocery stores on the South and West Sides of Chicago. This funding round marks the next step in Yellow Banana’s ongoing commitment to underserved communities throughout the City of Chicago and the U.S.
This investment combines a $13.5 million Community Development Grant that the City previously awarded to Yellow Banana in July 2022 with New Markets Tax Credits, third-party financing and funding from Yellow Banana. Through this project, Yellow Banana will make comprehensive upgrades to its existing Chicago stores as well as re-open a former Save A Lot, at 7908 S. Halsted in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, that closed in 2020.
The funding also further underscores Yellow Banana’s continued efforts to partner with major U.S. cities in providing access to affordable nutrition in underserved communities and comes as Walmart announces the permanent closure of four of its longstanding locations on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
Yellow Banana is owned by 127 Wall – which was co-founded by Michael Nance, Ademola Adewale-Sadik, and Walker Brumskine. The 3 of them met while earning JDs from Yale Law School; Adewale-Sadik and Brumskine also earned MBAs from Harvard Business School. They are joined by the seasoned operator and 127 Wall co-founder Joseph Canfield.
Yellow Banana owns and operates nearly 40 stores in Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, and Dallas, and seeks to be a partner of choice for municipalities working to find solutions to food insecurity across the U.S.
The funding will be used to acquire the underlying real estate at five of Yellow Banana’s existing Chicago stores and at the Auburn Gresham site. And Yellow Banana will then complete a comprehensive internal and external redevelopment at each location, including new flooring, lighting, equipment, HVAC, dairy and meat cases, interior and exterior paint, décor, fixtures, and signage. The remodels are going to commence this spring and conclude over the next year during which time Yellow Banana will also re-open the store in Auburn Gresham.
KEY QUOTES:
“Where people grow up or live should not determine their access to healthy, affordable food options. 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.”
- Michael Nance
“Yellow Banana’s triple commercial mandate is to deliver food access, job creation and economic development to our customers, colleagues and communities. 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.”
- Ademola Adewale-Sadik
“Yellow Banana has been brainstorming ways in which to breathe new life into the Save A Lot brand in Chicago ever since we first purchased the stores in 2021. Countless professionals from dozens of organizations worked tirelessly to secure this investment and help deliver the shopping experience that hard-working Chicagoans deserve. This collaboration demonstrates our company’s commitment to providing quality, affordable, healthy groceries to the communities in which we operate.”
- Joseph Canfield
“We are excited about Yellow Banana’s commitment to reshape the in-store experience for Save A Lot customers throughout the city’s South and West Sides. The enhancements under way will ensure Chicagoans can continue to access fresh foods and quality brands at affordable prices for many years to come.”
- Save A Lot CEO Leon Bergmann
