127 Wall and Yellow Banana Partner with the City of Chicago in Tackling Food Deserts
Yellow Banana, the owner and operator of eight Save A Lot locations in the Chicagoland area, today announced the receipt of a $13.5 million Community Development Grant from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the City of Chicago that will enable Yellow Banana to invest in significant upgrades to its existing Chicago stores, as well as to re-open a location in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood that closed in 2020. The City’s grant, combined with other financing and funding from Yellow Banana, will bring approximately $26 million in investment into six locations in underserved communities throughout the City’s South and West Sides.
Yellow Banana is owned by 127 Wall Holdings, LLC, which was co-founded by Michael Nance, Ademola Adewale-Sadik and Walker Brumskine. The three met while earning JDs from Yale Law School; Adewale-Sadik and Brumskine also earned MBAs from Harvard Business School. They are joined by seasoned operator and 127 Wall co-founder Joseph Canfield. Yellow Banana, which currently owns and operates 38 stores in Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Jacksonville and Dallas, endeavors to deliver essential nutrition to working families at affordable prices. Today’s announcement significantly furthers Yellow Banana’s efforts to partner with major U.S. cities in addressing food deserts and healthy food access in underserved communities.
The capital investments will be used to purchase the underlying real estate for six of the seven locations in Chicago as well as to complete full internal and external remodels, including new flooring, lighting, HVAC, dairy and meat cases, interior and exterior painting, new décor and signage. Remodels will begin this fall with plans for completion, as well as the reopening of the Auburn-Gresham Save A Lot at 7908 S. Halsted, by year’s end.
“We are exceedingly grateful to Mayor Lightfoot and the City of Chicago for this generous grant and their investment in the South and West Side neighborhoods of Chicago,” said Michael Nance. “We know how critical access to high-quality food at affordable prices is in many of these neighborhoods—I myself having been raised in a community with many similarities—and we are honored to be able to serve them. By updating these stores both inside and out and continuing to source fresh, affordable food at prices working families can afford, we can deliver a dignified, first-rate shopping experience for local families. We are committed to the wider Chicago community and look forward to finding even more ways to better serve those who live here.”
“This award marks another step in Yellow Banana’s ongoing commitment to the City of Chicago,” said Ademola Adewale-Sadik. “Mayor Lightfoot’s administration has made good on their promise to partner with private enterprise and invest in the City’s underserved but deserving neighborhoods. We are excited to deliver a repositioned grocery experience to our customers, colleagues and communities. Our work has just begun.”
“We are thrilled about the City of Chicago’s investment in the passionate team at Yellow Banana and the Save A Lot stores they own throughout the city’s South and West Sides,” said Save A Lot CEO Leon Bergmann. “Quality brands at affordable prices are at the heart of Save A Lot’s identity, and we are honored to be able to provide that to Chicagoans in underserved communities through our Retail Partners at Yellow Banana. We’re confident in their ability to maximize the success of their stores by serving the Chicago community and giving these stores, and their customers, the attention and enhancements they deserve.”