A discount grocer is giving Las Vegas another try with three new stores, less than a year after a rival pulled out of the market.
Save-A-Lot plans to open the first store Thursday at 1120 E. Charleston Blvd. and hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony there on Friday.
It expects to open the other stores, 4400 E. Charleston Blvd. and 6100 Vegas Drive, by early next year, spokeswoman Chon Tomlin said.
The company, based near St. Louis in Earth City, Mo., says it operates more than 1,300 stores in 36 states. Its stores typically are about 15,000 to 16,000 square feet, a relatively small size, Tomlin said.
The three new locations would be Save-A-Lot’s only stores in Nevada, she said.
Owned by grocery giant Supervalu, Save-A-Lot is not new to Las Vegas.
It announced in fall 2005 that two Save-A-Lot stores would open here in early 2006, at 703 N. Rancho Drive and 1110 E. Charleston Blvd.
Those stores apparently were operated by an independent owner who licensed Save-A-Lot's name. Tomlin could not immediately confirm details Monday about the history of those stores, including when they closed, but said the new ones are corporate-owned.
Despite the address change, Tomlin said the store opening this week will occupy one of the former Save-A-Lot spaces.
The entry comes several months after Food 4 Less closed eight locations in Southern Nevada and converted six others to Smith’s Food & Drug stores. Both brands are owned by Kroger Co.
Tomlin said her company approached Las Vegas as it does any other city, looking for concentrations of residents who’d want discount groceries within a few miles of their home.
The valley looks like a good market for Save-A-Lot, she said, and Food 4 Less’ departure “hasn’t been a conversation for us.”