Save A Lot, one of the largest discount grocery chains in the U.S., has sold six company-owned stores in Dallas, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida, to Yellow Banana LLC as part of Save A Lot’s ongoing efforts to convert corporate-owned stores to local ownership.
Yellow Banana’s acquisition will enable these six stores to remain open, providing critical support to both the communities in question and the nearly 100 store associates employed.
Yellow Banana is owned by 127 Wall Holdings LLC, which was co-founded by Walker Brumskine, Ademola Adewale-Sadik and Michael Nance. The three met while earning JDs from Yale Law School; Brumskine and Adewale-Sadik also earned MBAs from Harvard Business School. They are joined by seasoned operator and 127 Wall co-founder Joseph Canfield.
This news follows Yellow Banana’s September purchase of 32 Save A Lot stores in the Cleveland, Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas, and brings Yellow Banana’s total Save A Lot store count to 38 stores in five states.
The new locations now operating under Yellow Banana’s ownership in Texas and Florida include:
Texas
3021 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Dallas
2611 South Lancaster Road, Dallas
Florida
762 Edgewood Ave. North, Jacksonville
5276 Blanding Blvd., Jacksonville
8000 Lem Turner Road, Jacksonville
5995 University Blvd., Jacksonville
“We are excited to deepen our strong relationship with Save A Lot and to expand our mission of tackling food deserts across the United States, through this extension of Yellow Banana’s operations into the promising Texas and Florida markets,” said Adewale-Sadik, Yellow Banana president.
Canfield, Yellow Banana CEO, added, “The Yellow Banana team has great confidence in the Save A Lot brand and format, and we look forward to delivering affordable, high-quality food to working families in the important Southern cities of Dallas and Jacksonville.”
Yellow Banana intends to employ all of the nearly 100 associates at the six stores and maintain their current wages, health insurance and retirement benefits. The stores will continue to emphasize convenience, offer high-quality products, deliver great value and promote easy-to-shop store experiences. Yellow Banana also plans to expand each store’s assortment of local and regional products and hire talent from local communities.
Each of the stores also will undergo a significant remodel in 2022 to fully reflect Save A Lot’s updated brand image. This will deliver an enhanced shopping environment both inside and outside the stores, including new décor, upgraded flooring and lighting as well as updated produce and meat cases.
As a reflection of Yellow Banana’s commitment to positive corporate citizenship and in an effort to make a meaningful impact on those in need, the company will seek to form new partnerships with local food pantries and other key community organizations.
“We are delighted that Yellow Banana is growing its Save A Lot store count,” said Tim Schroder, chief sales and marketing officer at Save A Lot. “Their clear commitment to connecting the business to the local community and appetite for growing the business will ensure Save A Lot continues to serve customers for years to come.”
Squire Patton Boggs served as legal counsel to 127 Wall in connection with the transaction.
127 Wall supports promising entrepreneurs and businesses by delivering the capital and operational insight that they need in order to effectively scale. Its flexible investment mandate allows the company to provide solutions across the transaction spectrum, from retiring owner-operators in need of complete exits to expanding businesses seeking accelerated growth.
