Englewood residents and community leaders during a meeting Thursday expressed anger and frustration after Save a Lot, the grocery store the community said it "didn't want," hung a banner on the neighborhood's recently shuttered Whole Foods building at 832 W. 63rd St. on Chicago's South Side.
"The very brand that our community said we don't want," 16th Ward Ald. Stephanie Coleman passionately conveyed Thursday during the meeting, referencing a questionnaire that community members recently filled out.
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, the former Whole Foods will become a Save A Lot grocery store set to be operated by Yellow Banana, a Black-owned business that owns and operates more than 30 grocery stores under the Save A Lot name, including several in the Chicago area.
Yellow Banana co-founder Michael Nance, who also joined Thursday's meeting, acknowledged Coleman's concerns, saying that the brand is "stuck between a rock and a hard place," but that Save A Lot's new leadership during a recent call said it hopes to improve its reputation among Black and Brown neighborhoods, and that the grocer is "committed to engaging" with the community.
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"We're trying to take this site on, we want to do right by the community" Nance said, adding that Save A Lot's corporate leaders have "acknowledged the way [Save a Lot] stores were ran and shut down on the South Side wasn't right. They want to right their relationship with this community."
Nance also added that other potential operators were considered for the site but "didn't take it."
During Thursday's meeting, Coleman and other leaders spoke about the community's desire to have fresh, affordable products and produce, the need for a strong employment pipeline, and a request to change the store's name in an effort to disassociate it with the Save A Lot brand and reputation.
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"Quite frankly, the neighborhood has gone in an uproar because of the name," Coleman said. "We're requesting a meeting with the CEO regarding the name of the store and the signage that has been put on the building."
"We're 100 perent on board with that," Nance responded.
While the grocer did not reveal specifics steps forward, the Save A Lot sign atop the former Whole Foods building has not only created a stir in the neighborhood, but also on social media.
"Break the lease," a tweet read from Asiaha Butler, who leads a community group in Englewood. "Englewood does not want SaveALot nor Yellow Banana!!"
Though an opening date was not discussed, Coleman remained steadfast. "We're not going to accept a sub par product," she said. "We deserve the best."
