‘Our focus is fresh’: Independent grocer Shop & Save stresses community focus in big expansion

Independent grocer Shop & Save Market/Local Market is doubling its footprint in the suburbs with six pending or recently opened locations including Algonquin, Lindenhurst and Grayslake.

Five of the locations being acquired or leased by the Des Plaines-based company are Butera brands of varying sizes.

That presents different opportunities and challenges with a common objective, explained Eva Jakubowski, who co-owns the grocer with her husband, Cezary.

“Each of our stores is very unique because we do cater to the community around us,” she said. “The goal is to draw the local community with all the fresh departments.”

Made-from-scratch baked goods and prepared meals accompany a variety of products, specialized ethnic sections and more.

Jakubowski said each store is envisioned as a neighborhood market with the flexibility to continuously tweak and make changes or modifications based on customer needs.

“People like going to the grocery store and seeing familiar faces,” she said. “Since we are a local family, for us, building those relationships and getting to know our customers is very important.”

The couple launched the business in 2002 with a single store at Golf Mill in Niles. That store closed as the lease wasn’t renewed due to redevelopment of the shopping center.

But stores in Des Plaines, Downers Grove, Bridgeview and two in Chicago followed.

And, for more than a year, construction has been ongoing to transform the former Whole Foods space near Rand and Dundee roads in Palatine to Shop & Save’s flagship and largest location at 76,000 square feet.

Amid all that activity, the opportunity to take over locations in Algonquin, Grayslake, Harwood Heights, Lindenhurst, Norridge and Palatine came up suddenly, Jakubowski said.

Regular customers at each location will notice changes but they will be gradual as it takes about six months to transition from what the old standbys had been to the Shop & Save vision, Jakubowski said.

“Nothing happens overnight,” she said. “A lot of these properties require upgrades and changes.”

The Algonquin store (formerly Caputo’s) is the furthest along and has seen the most change. Shop & Save took over the Grayslake Butera June 8.

So far, the interior has been extensively cleaned and is being freshened.

“We’ll be redoing the decor, we’ll be redoing many, many things in this store,” Jakubowski said.

The produce selection has been revamped and rearranged to be more accessible. Plans include a full-scale kitchen, salad bar, improved deli section and more.

“We’re trying to add a much larger variety of products,” Jakubowski said. “Our focus is fresh. Our goal here is to add as many fresh departments as possible, which they didn’t have here.”

At 60,000 square feet, the store at 1500 E. Grand Ave. in Lindenhurst is nearly twice the size of the Grayslake site and will be among the largest for Shop & Save, which takes over July 6.

“We plan a lot of changes at that store,” Jakubowski said.

That store was built as Eagle Foods around 1999, according to Clay Johnson, village administrator.

“Having a grocery remain in the village is important to our residents and is important in maintaining the vibrancy of the (Grand Avenue) corridor,” Johnson said.

In three weeks, Norridge will become the last store in the Shop & Save expansion. Wherever they are located, customers are encouraged to ask questions or make suggestions.

“We’re not shy,” Jakubowski said. “We talk to people.”