Grocer doubles presence in South Side neighborhoods

St. Louis, Feb. 21, 2011 — Save-A-Lot, one of the nation’s leading hard-discount, limited-assortment grocery retailers and a wholly owned subsidiary of SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU), today announced that it will open five new stores in Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods on Thursday, Feb. 24, nearly doubling its presence in the area.

With the openings, Save-A-Lot will operate 13 Chicagoland stores. The company expects to open five additional locations in the greater Chicago area by February 2012.

“Chicago long has been a priority market for Save-A-Lot, and we’re thrilled to be adding five more South Side stores,” said Bill Shaner, Save-A-Lot CEO and president. “These locations are a perfect match with our strategy of bringing affordable groceries and more fresh-food options to neighborhoods with few existing grocery stores.”

The new Chicago stores are located at:

• 8240 S. Stony Island Avenue
• 148 W. 79th Street
• 344 E. 63rd Street
• 6858 S. Aberdeen Street
• 6701 S. Western Avenue

Working with neighborhood staffing agencies, Save-A-Lot has hired more than 100 employees from the local community for its new stores. The five South Side stores range in size from 11,000 to 21,000 square feet. All of the stores are located in formerly vacant retail properties, which the company has completely renovated.

“We were fortunate to find some great locations that other retailers and businesses had left, and we greatly appreciate the support of local community leaders as we continue to expand our presence in Chicago,” Shaner said.

Save-A-Lot provides consumers with savings of up to 40 percent on their primary food needs, compared with traditional grocers. Stores offer a carefully selected mix of 1,200 to 1,500 of the most popular, in-demand everyday essentials, including farm fresh fruits and vegetables; USDA-inspected meat and dairy; and a full line of baby and household products. Merchandise is both brand-name and the company’s exclusive private label.

Nationally, Save-A-Lot, which recently passed the 1,200-store mark, announced in 2010 that it plans to double its number of locations to more than 2,400 in the next five years. Throughout this expansion, there will be a continued emphasis on growth in urban markets and areas known as “food deserts,” where there is little-to-no access to healthier foods.

Grand Opening Celebration
To celebrate the opening of its new Chicago stores, Save-A-Lot will hold a “Dollar-Cutting Ceremony” at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 3, at its Stony Island location. A $25,000 donation will be made to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Community representatives from the Garfield Workforce Center, Greater Chicago Food Depository and Centers for New Horizons; Chicago elected officials; and company executives including Shaner, SUPERVALU CEO Craig Herkert and Save-A-Lot regional director Ron Munson, will be on hand for the grand opening celebration.

On Monday, Feb. 28, in advance of the grand opening celebration, Save-A-Lot will deliver a free assortment of its exclusive, private-label brand products to residents within a quarter-mile radius of each of its new Chicago stores.

About Save-A-Lot Food Stores
Save-A-Lot, a wholly owned subsidiary of SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE: SVU), is one of the nation’s leading hard-discount, carefully selected assortment grocery chains, operating more than 1,200 stores in 39 states from Maine to California. Serving more than 5 million shoppers each week, Save-A-Lot offers savings of up to 40 percent on groceries when compared to conventional stores. Customers enjoy savings on exclusive Save-A-Lot brands and national brands, plus fresh meat and farm-fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy, along with the most popular grocery and household items. Save-A-Lot helps its customers live richer, fuller lives by saving them money and time through a smart, convenient shopping experience featuring great food, great prices and great people every day. For more information on Save-A-Lot or to locate a store, please visit www.save-a-lot.com.

About SUPERVALU INC.
SUPERVALU INC. is one of the largest companies in the U.S. grocery channel with annual sales of approximately $38 billion. SUPERVALU serves customers across the United States through a network of approximately 4,270 stores composed of approximately 1,140 traditional retail stores, including 816 in-store pharmacies; 1,240 hard-discount stores, of which 890 are operated by licensee owners; and 1,890 independent stores serviced primarily by the company's traditional food distribution business. SUPERVALU has approximately 150,000 employees. For more information about SUPERVALU, visit www.supervalu.com.