NEW BUSINESS ON THE SCENE: JACKSON SAVE-A-LOT OPENS

JACKSON -- Save-A-Lot with more than 500 supermarkets in 17 states, including sites at Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perryville, Fredericktown, Dexter, has opened its newest store in Jackson, a 14,000-square-foot facility at 1905 E. Jackson Blvd.

"This is actually a relocation of a store here," said Tim Maevers, supervisor of Heartland Warehouse Foods, which operates four Save-A-Lot stores. The Jackson store was previously at 1227 Old Cape Road.

"We've been working hard preparing for the opening of the new store," added Maevers. "We're pleased with our new location."

The Save-A-Lot store is the third one in Cape Girardeau County, with Cape Girardeau stores at 19 N. Spanish and Kingshighway and Broadway.

The company's fourth Save-A-Lot is at 601 S. Main in Sikeston.

Store hours at the new store are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

The Save-A-Lot chain, a subsidiary of SuperValu, features more than 1,200 best-selling grocery items.

A cost-savings method used by the store is displaying everything in the original shipping cartons. Price signs hang above each item. Although most of the brands carried are custom brands made for Save-A-Lot, some are national brands.

Consumers bag or box their own groceries. Empty cartons are available free of charge, and bags are available at a nominal fee.

Margit Byrd, who has more than five years experience in the grocery business, is manager of the new store.

Save-A-Lot is a St. Louis-based company and has most of its stores east of the Mississippi River.