Photo by Amy Cherry Steve and Nathan Nicklas of Ridgway stock the dairy case of the new Save-A-Lot food store located on Brusselles Street in St. Marys. The grand opening is slated for Wednesday, Dec. 16.

By Amy Cherry

Staff Writer

The much anticipated Save-A-Lot food store in St. Marys is set to open its doors on Wednesday, Dec. 16. The store is located on Brusselles St. in the former Dollar General store building.

Co-owners Steve and Nathan Nicklas, both of Ridgway, have spent the past four months working on extensive renovations to the 13,000 square foot building including installing a new roof, floor, lighting, ceiling, tile as well as rebuilding the front of the store. The duo completed the renovations mostly by themselves.

Food products began arriving Friday from which time the shelves were quickly stocked with merchandise. Currently finishing touches are wrapping up inside the store.

“We wanted to do something to give the community something different,” Steve said about his efforts on researching what type of store to bring in.

Steve, born and raised in St. Marys, was a former owner of Paper City Jubilee in Johnsonburg and worked at the St. Marys BiLo for 20 years. His son Nathan worked as a butcher for 10 years at the Paper City Jubilee.

“Our customer service is second to none. We are very fortunate to have an excellent crew of people,” Nathan said.

Nathan explained the store finished its hiring process on Wednesday. After receiving 350 applications the store will staff a total of 20 full- and part-time employees.

The stores hours of operations are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

The new store includes a full-service produce and meat department complete with three butchers on staff.

“We plan to smoke some of our own meats with a smokehouse on site,” Steve said.

Unlike other traditional big box grocery stores, Save-A-Lot prides itself on the ability to save its customers up to 40 percent with their everyday low prices.

They achieve this by limiting their assortment of stock and carry only the items patrons purchase most. They emphasize their our own exclusive brands as well as national brands, USDA-inspected beef, pork and poultry, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables and non-food items.

Steve explained that many of the stores brands are named after employees who have longevity with the company.

An example would be Diane’s Garden, a brand of diced tomatoes or Gilmore Gourmet popcorn.

Save-A-Lot businesses are simplistic in design with many of the company’s stores being smaller with wider aisles.

The company orders, ships, and sell products out of custom cartons, making those items easier to find and available at a lower cost.

In addition customers typically bag their own groceries which results in less employees at the store and lower prices.

Customers are encouraged to bring shopping bags from home and re-use them to help preserve the environment. First time shoppers are charged a small fee for bags, however customers may purchase eco-friendly re-usable totes for 99 cents.

This is the third grocery store which has been housed in the new Save-A-Lot building. Throughout its history the building has been the home of an old Ford garage, the A&P, Market Basket and former location of the Dollar General store which has since re-located to the St. Marys Plaza.

From a single store in 1977, Save-a-Lot has grown into one of the largest U.S. grocery chains. The newest St. Marys location is one of 1,200 stores nationwide in more than 40 states, serving more than four million shoppers each week.

Save-A-Lot remains a wholly owned subsidiary of SUPERVALU, based in St. Louis, MO. The company utilizes several warehouses located in Pennsylvania, Florida and Tennessee.