Residents on Chicago's South Side expressed outrage and frustration Wednesday, saying they’re not happy about a new grocery store opening and replacing Whole Foods in Englewood.
“I’m really upset about this,” said resident Denise Dyer. “No matter what, I will never go inside the building as long as it’s a Save A Lot — I won’t do it.”
More than 100 protestors, led by Ald. Stephanie Coleman, gathered right in front of the store just one day before it was set to have a soft opening.
“We want an opportunity at an affordable quality fresh grocery operator in the Englewood community,” Coleman said. “We deserve better, we demand respect.”
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For months community groups have voiced their concerns saying they don’t believe this discount brand is the right fit for Englewood.
“Save A Lot has never had fresh quality products,” said Asiaha Butler, who is the co-founder of Residents Association of Greater Englewood. “We want also to have control on who’s getting hired—if you’re using our tax dollar money we want to help with the hiring process.”
The store’s operator, Yellow Banana, said it is committed to hiring locally and even opened its doors to local vendors to set up shop inside for free. The CEO met with residents outside to address concerns, including residents' complaints saying they were not invited to an event Wednesday evening to give them a glimpse of the new store.
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“I think it was a productive conversation. I appreciate people expressing their views. We want to respect that. We heard what people told us and we’re reacting,” Yellow Banana CEO Joe Canfield said. “We’re not always going to be perfect, but when we make mistakes we’re going to own those mistakes. We’re going to listen to our customers and we’re going to try to do better.”
While the store was set to have a soft opening Thursday morning, Yellow Banana now says they’re holding off until they’re able to meet with Coleman to make sure all needs are met for residents in Englewood.
“We’ve gotten feedback from the community,” Yellow Banana co-owner Michael Nance. “They want a meeting with Save A Lot corporate. We have heard them loud and clear and they want to have that meeting before this store is opened.”
Yellow Banana said there is still no clear timeline on when the store will officially open. They hope to have a better idea once they meet with Coleman and community groups.
Save A Lot released this statement to NBC 5 prior to the demonstration.
"Save A Lot is proud to be a brand that offers high quality, affordable and fresh foods in neighborhoods all across the country. We’ve built our business around a curated assortment of private label brands that taste just as good as their national brand equivalents at significantly lower prices, and our stores are a destination for both high quality produce and meat cut fresh daily.
Our Retail Partners at Yellow Banana took on the Chicago stores with a vision for how the brand could better serve the community and are working to provide a refreshed and improved Save A Lot experience, including the remodel of stores and the development of new locations.
The Englewood store is a big step forward in this process and we're proud to stand by them and welcome the community in to access and save money on fresh, quality foods they will feel good about feeding their families."
