Dive Brief:

• Discount grocer Save A Lot is accelerating its store remodeling drive, with a goal of updating more than a third of its locations by the end of this year.
• The remodels, which include enhanced decor and more local products, will touch all 1,000 Save A Lot stores by 2024, according to a company announcement.
• The store updates come as Save A lot is selling off its corporate-owned locations and transitioning to a wholesale business model.

Dive Insight:

Save A Lot is stepping up its store updates to keep pace with numerous other grocery operators that have turned their attention to refreshing their locations, including fellow discounter Aldi.

Save A Lot’s updates include wider aisles, improved lighting and more private label and regionally sourced products. And they’re being financed in part by independent licensees, who own the majority of the retail brand’s stores.

In an interview in January with the Tampa Bay Times, Fresh Encounter CEO Michael Needler, who purchased 51 Tampa Save A Lot locations in the winter, said his company would spend $5 million alongside Save A Lot to rebrand and update the vast majority of those locations.

In addition to remodeling the Florida stores, Save A Lot has recently performed market-wide updates to stores in Denver as well as its hometown, St. Louis. The company also began trialing curbside pickup in St. Louis as online shopping boomed last year. 

In a statement, CEO Kenneth McGrath said the remodels are part of Save A Lot’s push to become a go-to shopping destination. “This refresh positively supports our efforts to further evolve and gain new shoppers, retain our current shoppers and increase our basket size,” he said.

Save A Lot, which restructured its debt early last year, is in the process of transitioning to a wholesale model. It’s selling off corporate-owned stores as part of that shift, with recent sales to licensees in Florida, Cleveland and New Orleans, and plans to wrap up that process sometime this year. At the same time, the discounter will retain a core of company-owned stores in St. Louis that the company will use to test out new products and services.

Along with its accelerated remodeling plan, Save A Lot in its release highlighted its “99 Days of Summer” marketing campaign offering digital coupons, daily deals and more through Sept. 6. The company also said it has selected Via Agency, which will “manage creative activations and marketing strategy,” as its marketing agency of record as the discounter revitalizes its brand.