Today, Save-A-Lot R , one of the nation’s leading hard discount grocery chains and one of the SUPERVALU(R) (NYSE: SVU) family of grocery stores, announced it is joining forces with Texas Hispanic grocery operator Rafael Ortega to form a new company, Adventure Supermarkets LLC. The company will own and operate six former Save-A-Lot stores in the Houston and South Texas markets under a co-branded format, “El Ahorro Save-A-Lot,” to serve Hispanic customers in those communities.
This partnership is an example of how Save-A-Lot is looking for unique ways to meet the needs of a variety of communities. Over the next five years, SUPERVALU has announced plans to accelerate the growth of Save-A-Lot, doubling the number of stores from 1,200 today to 2,400. The company has earmarked 50 percent of those new stores for urban markets with an emphasis on underserved areas with little to no access to healthy foods, otherwise known as food deserts.
For more than 30 years, Save-A-Lot stores have operated and grown with the mission of providing rural, suburban and urban families alike access to affordable healthy foods, especially for families on tight budgets. Save-A-Lot offers price points designed to be 20 to 40 percent below that of competitors. In addition, Save-A-Lot has identified a need for consumer education ranging from how to select and prepare produce to how to prepare healthy lunches for a $1 or a meal for a family of four for $5.
