Supervalu Inc., the supermarket giant that owns Jewel-Osco, is opening five Save-A-Lot discount grocery stores on the South Side this week. It's also closing a Jewel store, signs of the rapidly changing and increasingly cutthroat grocery business.
Targeting areas like the South Side is a new phenomenon for grocers. Inner cities have been so neglected that the term "food desert" was coined to describe the lack of available fresh produce.
But with competition fierce and 43 million Americans on food stamps, companies like Supervalu see an opportunity to put smaller stores in urban areas where Walmart and other megastores have had a tougher time securing approvals.
Save-A-Lot plans to open as many as 30 stores in the Chicago area over the next three years. Batavia-based Aldi Inc., another discounter, is also opening a store this week in Harwood Heights, with at least four more to come by year-end. Aldi has opened more than 35 new Chicago stores in the last five years.
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