Acquisition by SuperValu, 1994–2016
In 1994, both the Save A Lot and Shop 'n Save banners became wholly owned subsidiaries of Supervalu Inc, one of the largest independent grocery wholesalers, and the owners of Cub Foods and Scott's Food & Pharmacy at the time. The acquisition opened up Save A Lot's licensee opportunities to conventional Supervalu-supplied operators, including Niemann Foods.
Save A Lot expanded into Southern California with the purchase of 21 discount-grocery Sav U Foods stores, and a distribution center from the Fleming Companies in late 1996.
In 2002, Save A Lot acquired discount variety store chain Deals with 45 stores in the Midwest. The typical Deal$ store had a slightly smaller footprint than Save A Lot and carried mostly non-food merchandise at dollar-increment price points. The Deal$ concept was expanded under Save A Lot to 138 stores by 2006. The acquisition also allowed Save A Lot grocery stores to stock more general merchandise in its grocery stores. The company experimented with hypermarkets which combined the discount grocery and merchandise concepts under one roof. This eventually led to 480 combination stores that did not carry the Deal$ banner. In 2006, Save A Lot sold Deal$ to Dollar Tree for $30.5 million plus inventory.[3] Save A Lot reduced the amount of general merchandise in its combination stores and returned them to its grocery-focused model.
In 2009, Save A Lot expanded its presence internationally. In the Caribbean, Save A Lot opened the first three international licensee grocery stores in Aruba, Freeport- Bahamas and Dominica. Expansion continued with secondary locations opening in Aruba and 8 mile Rock-Bahamas. International interest and growth continued with additional stores opening in St. Vincent, Curaçao, Trinidad and Tobago- (Mount Hope and Diego Martin). From the Caribbean, expansion moved to Central America establishing the brand with the opening of two retail sites in Guatemala City. Grenada was the last international licensee scheduled opening. As of 2018, with the change of corporate ownership the overall corporate strategy shifted to focus all efforts on stateside store growth. The international retail licenses were dissolved and existing international accounts were converted to wholesale accounts. The international stores no longer operate under the Save A Lot brand name or Save A Lot Licensee agreement but as independent retailers.
In late 2009, newly hired Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert announced the goal to double the Save A Lot grocery store network to 2,400 locations within five years.[4] The company opened nearly 100 stores in 2010 with a major focus on the Southeastern United States.
Save A Lot entered into a licensing affiliation with Hispanic grocer Rafael Ortega to rebrand six former Save A Lots in Houston, Texas, and South Texas as "El Ahorro Save A Lot".[5] new stores featured Save A Lot product offerings along with more traditional Hispanic staples.
In late 2010, Rite Aid became a licensed Save A Lot operator when it converted 10 of its existing pharmacies in the Greenville, South Carolina, area to co-branded "Save A Lot/Rite Aid" units.[6]
In September 2012, Supervalu announced it would close 22 Save A Lot stores in seven states.[7][8] Several executive changes were made by Supervalu on March 4, 2013, including replacing Save-A-Lot CEO Roces with Ritchie Casteel. This came in the midst of plans by Supervalu to sell a number of its other grocery chains to Cerberus Capital Management.[9]
Transition to wholesale model, 2020–2023
In early 2020, Save-a-Lot began a financial restructuring towards a wholesale model in order to reduce its debt load. It sought to no longer operate its locations and instead license them off to independent retailers.
In August 2023, Save-a-Lot revealed that the remaining 18 stores that it operated directly were to be acquired by Leevers Supermarkets. Leevers is an employee-owned company that also operate Leevers Locavore, El Mercado De Colorado, and had already been operating 29 Save-a-Lots. As of February 2024, Leevers Supermarkets operated a total of 52 Save-a-Lots (14 in Colorado, 20 in the mid-Atlantic, and 18 in the greater St Louis area).
