A discount grocery store is back open for business in Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood after closing for renovations last fall.
"It looks nice. Some of the prices are a little higher than I expected, but milk is cheap -- cheaper than a lot of other places," said shopper Tarquin GrIggs.
The remodeled Save A Lot store near Congress Parkway and Pulaski Road was fully stocked Thursday with fresh produce, meat and packaged food for shoppers.
"We just think it's going to enhance the shopping experience because there's not a lot of good choices for them to make over here on the West Side," said Save A Lot Chief Development Officer Bill Mayo.
Another shopper told NBC Chicago the store was desperately needed in her neighborhood.
"It ain't a matter of how much you spend," said Joann, who didn't want us to use her last name. "It's about, 'Is there a store in the neighborhood and you don't have to go 12 blocks to get to.'"
The company took a lot of heat in the past with customers complaining about products, quality control and even pest problems.
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Management reassured the public that things are different this time around, adding everything is new in the store, from the lights to the floors to the refrigeration equipment. Yellow Banana is the store's operator.
"I think when you look around this store, I think it shows that we solved that," said Joe Canfield, who is the CEO of Yellow Banana.
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Canfield told NBC Chicago they're working to rebuild trust in the community and said around $4 million went into renovating the store as a part of a deal with the city.
"We got to prove it everyday. You can't ask people to trust you. You have to earn their trust, and that's what we're trying to do everyday with folks who come in," said Canfield.
The deal with the city includes renovating and reopening five other stores in communities with limited access to fresh food. The locations include Grand Crossing, West Lawn and Auburn Gresham, slated to reopen before the holidays:
10700 S. Halsted St.
7240 S. Stony Island Ave.
2858 E. 83rd St.
4439 W. 63rd St.
7908 S. Halsted St.
"The city put up $13.5 million into the six stores. … At one point we didn't have a store after the loss of Aldi and the loss of this store,” said 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin. “We're glad to see Yellow Banana step up and come to the table to [bring this to] fruition. I know we had challenges in the past, but that's in the past and we're looking forward."
As for shoppers, they said they have to wait and see.
"It's stocked real well right now," said Griggs. "I'll see how they do in a couple of weeks after this is gone. I'll see what it looks like then and see how they keep up."
