Save-A-Lot 1st Retailer to Open in Philly Development

The Plaza at Chelten in the Germantown section of Philadelphia will celebrate the grand opening of the new development’s anchor retailer, a Save-A-Lot Food store, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, Dec. 9, at 9 a.m. The 17,500-square-foot location is the center’s first retailer to open its doors to the public.

Operated by Shawn Rinnier of locally owned Save Philly Stores, a locally owned company -- the first to franchise Save-A-Lot Food Stores in the greater Philadelphia area -- the Germantown store will feature 24-hour shopping; expanded fresh produce; a fresh store-cut meat department; a wider grocery selection, including national brands and local items; and new jobs for the community.

The old Save-A-Lot on Wayne Avenue was relocated to The Plaza at Chelten in a new, ground-up retail space that’s 70 percent larger than the previous site. In addition to the 28 employees who moved from the Wayne Ave store to the new store, another 30 employees were hired to work at The Plaza at Chelten store. Eighty percent of the new hires live within a 2-mile radius of the new location. The store boasts an 83 percent minority workforce, with 97 percent of associates residing in Philadelphia.

Over the next few months, the $14 million development will see the opening of such businesses as Anna’s Linens, Deal$/Dollar Tree, Wired Beans Coffee Shop, Citi Bank. The project has led to the creation of more than 200 construction jobs and about 100 permanent jobs. In the first year of The Plaza at Chelten’s opening, around $1.8 million in employment dollars is expected to be brought into the greater Germantown community.

An additional $100,000 in annual site preservation employment dollars will be prioritized for local minority firms. Over the next 10 years, it’s anticipated that about $20 million in local employment dollars will be brought to the area.

The development also features sustainable site designs, unique landscaping and green elements to ensure that it’s environmentally friendly as well as aesthetically appealing.

A subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Supervalu, Save-A-Lot is a hard-discount grocery chain with over 1,280 location from Maine to California.