Shelby Park's Save-A-Lot closed with little warning to neighbors

Bailey Loosemore | Courier Journal

A discount grocery store in the Shelby Park neighborhood closed Sunday with little warning after its parent company, Buehler Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

On Monday, a representative for the company confirmed that it had closed three stores as a result of the filing — including the local Save-A-Lot at 1311 S. Shelby St., which opened its doors in 2008.

Buehler Inc. of Jasper, Indiana will still operate two stores in Louisville: a Cash Saver in Park DuValle and a Save-A-Lot on Cane Run Road. Administrative assistant Michelle Schmitt said those stores are not in danger of closing, as far as she is aware.

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Employees were busy Monday clearing out the closed store and referred all questions to the Indiana office.

Inside, refrigerated cases that once held meat had already been emptied and a shelf holding bags of Doritos was one of the last to remain stocked. Outside, a couple who was not aware of the store's closure asked why the neighborhood had not been given more notice.

Residents of Shelby Park have long bemoaned their lack of options for healthy and affordable food, and those who shopped at the Save-A-Lot will likely have to travel a mile farther to the Kroger at Eastern Parkway and Goss Avenue to get what they need.

One bright spot on the horizon: Safai's Logan Street Market is on track for a spring opening. And it promises to sell an assortment of goods that anyone can afford.

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The Courier Journal's continued coverage of food insecurity in Louisville is supported by the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism's 2018 National Fellowship.

Bailey Loosemore: 502-582-4646; bloosemore@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: http://www.courier-journal.com/baileyl.