Bargain hunters haven Save-A-Lot grocery chain opens new store on South Main Street in Brewer

The doors to the new Save-A-Lot store on South Main Street in Brewer opened at 8 a.m. Wednesday to a trickle of shoppers looking to find exactly what the store is offering, but by 10 a.m., the parking lot was full.

“We’re a full-service supermarket with fresh produce, fresh cut meats, dairy products and a bakery,” said co-owner Bill Smythe, who owns the store along with Kevin Kinney. “Kevin and I started building Save-A-Lots four years ago when we opened our first store in Caribou.

“It’s a new and exciting concept that has grown all over the country,” he added.

The duo’s newest store is located at 95 South Main Street. They also own another Save-A-lot in Farmington. The Brewer store is located at the former site of Miller’s department store.

“Brewer shoppers will be pleasantly surprised when they first visit the store and experience Save-A-Lot’s ‘value equation’ – great food at great prices,” said Dan Kimack, manager of corporate communications. “Save-A-Lot is a value shopper’s utopia.”

Currently there are more than 1,000 Save-A-Lot stores across the county. This corporate family gives smaller stores the ability to purchase items at a reduced cost, which the stores pass along to customers, Smythe said.

“Because of the way they package their own brands of product, it allows us to purchase at extremely competitive pricing and volume discounts, which equals big consumer savings of up to 40 percent,” he said. “We’re just happy to be in this area, and we think this will be a viable alternative for people who want to save money.”

Save-A-Lot carries both selected national brand items and exclusive label products. To ensure that Save-A-Lot’s exclusive label products are as good or better than name brand items, the company has a test kitchen and rigorous quality assurance procedures.

“All of our private label products are Grade A, fancy and fully guaranteed,” Smythe said. “We are buying products locally from Garelick [Farms of Maine] and Nissen [Baking Corp.] as well as seafood.”

Even more local products should be available in the summer, the owner added.

The Brewer store employs 25 full- and part-time employees from the Brewer area and will carry about 1,250 frequently purchased grocery items, including frozen foods, canned items, produce, meats and packaged items such as cereal. The store also carries dog food, baking supplies, picnic items and even underwear.

“Opportunity” is the reason Brewer was chosen, said Kinney. “Bangor is a destination shopping area. Traditionally a Save-A-Lot will get customers from 50 to 60 miles away.”

Bangor resident Barbara M. Stanhope said she often visits the Save-A-Lot in Dover-Foxcroft and frequented stores in Florida.

“I like the prices,” she said. “I’ve been eating the cereal since I found it.”

The store will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and on Sunday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.