In a conference call with analysts and investors last week, Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert said the company plans to revise the pace of new Save-A-Lot store openings in the near term. Rather than the 160 new stores that were previously announced for the current fiscal year, Herkert said they expect to add 80 or 90 locations to their store count at a cost of $700 – $725 million. And although the company still plans to double the Save-A-Lot footprint, it will no longer happen by 2015.
With less money allocated to Save-A-Lot store openings, Herkert said Supervalu will boost the number of conventional remodels to 80 or 90 this fiscal year, compared to earlier projections of 55 to 75.