‘Everyone here goes there’: Celebrated Save A Lot closing in Pagedale – STLtoday.com

PAGEDALE — A Save A Lot that formed a cornerstone of a rare new retail development in this corner of St. Louis County is set to close at the end of next week.

The discount grocery store’s landlord, the nonprofit developer Beyond Housing, cited lagging sales brought on by limited store hours and a decline in in-person shopping during the pandemic. Save A Lot did not respond to questions from the newspaper.

The closure creates a hole in the heart of a decadelong effort to turn a derelict intersection in a poor suburb into a thriving town center, one celebrated as a model for reviving forgotten areas. Nearby residents accustomed to making grocery runs on foot will soon have to shop at stores miles away, a distressing prospect for those living in the senior housing across the parking lot.

“Pretty much everyone here goes there,” said Willie Alexander, one of those residents.

It’s not clear if the shutdown spells doom for the wider development: St. Ann-based Save A Lot has struggled mightily in the decade since it opened its Pagedale location. But the intersection has blossomed, adding a bank, movie theater, food hall and health center, making it an easier sell than it was a decade ago.

“There’s too many positive things on this corner to not attract somebody,” said Chris Krehmeyer, Beyond Housing’s CEO. “We’ve come too far to wilt on the vine.”

When Save A Lot first opened on the southwest corner of Page Boulevard and Ferguson Avenue 11 years ago, in the midst of the Great Recession, it was hailed as a minor miracle — the first new supermarket in Pagedale in more than 40 years. It was also an answer to the community’s prayers: When Beyond Housing asked residents what they wanted beyond housing, a grocery store topped the list.

And after nearly $7 million in private loans, public tax credits and grants, Save A Lot signed a 10-year lease and fit right in. “Serving underserved America is our niche,” executive Rick Meyer told the Post-Dispatch at the time.

It was a good bet then: The recession had Hummers joining junkers in discount store parking lots. In the same year it opened in Pagedale, Save A Lot announced plans to double its size to 2,400 stores.

But it never got there. Lackluster investment from parent company SuperValu held it back, analysts said, and fierce competition from Walmart and German discounter Aldi left it in the dust.

When the company sold for $1.4 billion in 2016, an analyst said SuperValu was fortunate to get that much given that Save A Lot stores were the same size as Aldis — but with half the sales.

In Pagedale, shoppers noticed the chain appeared to lose interest in their store. The discounter opened two new locations nearby, at North Hanley Road and St. Charles Rock Road five years ago, and at Union Avenue and Page Boulevard two years ago. Krehmeyer said that sales at the Pagedale store dropped 8% after the St. Charles Rock Road store opened.

“What you’ve described is completely incongruent with commercial success,” said retail consultant Burt P. Flickinger III. “It’s idiocracy.”

But the rest of Beyond Housing’s footprint has done alright. Krehmeyer said the senior housing complex is full, and people are always coming and going from Midwest Bank Centre and Affinia Health.

And the new food hall opened in September. “Things are picking up daily,” said Qiuana “Queen” Chapple, who opened Goss’up Pasta there. People regularly come in from movies across the street, she added.

Krehmeyer said traffic at 24:1 Cinema is nearing pre-pandemic levels, an assessment that checked out with usher Chansler Thornton, 17. “Halloween Kills” and “Dune” are the hot tickets right now, he said.

And Beyond Housing is going to keep adding: A new gym and a clothing boutique will open within 30 days, and a nearby church is on track to become a performance space.

Krehmeyer acknowledged losing the grocery is a symbolic blow in addition to an inconvenience. When he got the news earlier this month, he was pretty beat up — for about 20 minutes.

Now he’s focused on the next tenant. These projects are hard, and setbacks are inevitable, he said. “None of this work is a straight line to the promised land.”