By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
With a sign on the door taking on the look of a death notice, the owner of Save-A-Lot at 45-47 Ellicott St., Batavia, is letting the public know that the market will be closing effective at 6 p.m. on Saturday night.
It is with a heavy heart that we share Batavia Save-A-Lot will be closing.
Our last days of business will be Friday, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. All remaining inventory will be 20% off.
To our Customers & Supporters:
Thank you for being our valued customer over the years. We are so grateful and hope we met your expectations.
To our Dedicated Team:
Your passion and hard work have been the core of our journey. We’re grateful beyond words for every moment.
The business is owned by John Hedlund of Niagara Falls, who owns several Save-A-Lot stores in Western New York, and the building is owned by VJ Gautieri Constructors, Inc., of Batavia.
In the summer of 2021, Hedlund invested $300,000 to remodel and renovate the 18,000-square foot grocery store – a move that coincided with VJ Gautieri’s completion of a Downtown Revitalization Initiative project that resulted in 10 market-rate apartments on the second floor.
Contacted on Thursday night, Victor Gautieri, president of VJ Gautieri Constructors, Inc., said he didn’t have a lot of information to share but is “hoping the down time is kept to a minimum.”
“We’ve talked to people at Save-A-Lot corporate and we’re looking at this as a transition,” Gautieri said.
The Batavia Save-A-Lot opened in 2011, filling a void left when Latina’s closed in 2007. Prior to that the building housed a Jubilee supermarket.
Save-A-Lot is the largest privately held grocery store chain in the nation. Based in St. Ann, Mo., it operates more than 900 stores in 32 states. Local stores are in Le Roy, Albion, Warsaw and Dansville.
While not franchises, each store has its own “operator” who relies upon Save-A-Lot for product and support, Gautieri said.