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Save-A-Lot opens soon in area of downtown
By SHARON L. BOND, Neighborhood Times Business Editor ST. PETERSBURG -- The new Save-A-Lot grocery store at 701 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. N opens Feb. 14. It will be the third outlet in St. Petersburg for the limited-assortment chain. Save-A-Lots carry fewer varieties of products and ask customers to bag their own groceries, promising in return savings as high 40 percent. Building a new store is "a relatively new strategy for us," said Dan Kimack, manager of corporate communications for the chain based just outside St. Louis. "This is one of just about a handful of new, grounds-up construction," Kimack said. "Where we might have gone to (Grade) B and C-plus locations, now we are looking at A and B-plus locations. That may require building from the ground up," Kimack said. As the chain continues to refine its product mix, it also is refining its real estate strategy, Kimack said. He said Save-A-Lots carry about 1,400 items in one size and variety. Save-A-Lot also makes a lot of its own products sold under its own label. Save-A-Lot moved into the space that Publix vacated in the Coquina Key Shopping Center on Sixth Street S two years ago, and it has a location on 49th Street N, both in St. Petersburg. There also is a Save-A-Lot in Pinellas Park on Park Boulevard. The new store on Dr. M.L. King Street N represents an investment of $2-million, Kimack said. The grocery sits on what was a mostly vacant lot on the edge of the Round Lake neighborhood. Save-A-Lot modified its building design to try to blend in with the neighborhood's Mission-style buildings, notably the old Alexander drugstore across Seventh Avenue N. To serve as a transition from the drugstore building to its neighbors in the 700 block -- Walgreen Drugs and Discount Auto Parts -- Save-A-Lot is building two entrance gazebos at the edge of the property. Bob Jeffrey, manager of urban design and historic preservation for the city, said the old drugstore building is built up to the edges of its lot while Walgreen's and Discount Auto Parts are set back from their front lines. Stationing the Save-A-Lot gazebos at the front and rear of its property lines will help tie the two blocks together. Save-A-Lot is "closing in on 1,000 stores across the country," Kimack said. About 90 groceries are in Florida. The chain doubled its number of stores in the past five years and expects to do the same in the next five years, Kimack said. He stresses that Save-A-Lot is not a scratch-and-dent or economy-pack store but one that limits variety to offer savings. "In the stalled economy, we may pick up additional customers, and that is great," Kimack said. "What we have learned is that we retained those customers. That has helped us grow our business."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
