Yellow Banana, LLC

What Yellow Banana, LLC does

Yellow Banana, LLC is a Cleveland, Ohio-based retail grocery operator founded in 2021 that owns and operates discount grocery stores under the Save A Lot banner. The company's core activity is store-level operations of value-format supermarkets targeted at price-sensitive consumers, including populations in food-insecure or underserved trade areas. Its core "product" is the physical grocery store and the inventory throughput it generates; there is no proprietary technology stack — the operating model is built on standard retail execution layered onto the Save A Lot license, supplemented by a partnership with Flashfood for surplus perishable merchandising.

The company pursues a roll-up growth model rather than organic store development. In September 2021 it acquired 32 Save A Lot stores in Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin in a single transaction that established its initial footprint and brought in over $130 million of annualized revenue, followed by a six-store bolt-on in Dallas and Jacksonville in November 2021. As a Save A Lot licensee rather than corporate owner of the brand, Yellow Banana's revenue mechanics are fundamentally conventional: gross merchandise margin on grocery sales at the store level, minus store operating costs, scaled across a multi-market footprint. Headcount disclosed at the corporate level is approximately 13, indicating a thin central organization with labor concentrated in stores. Operating markets total five as of the most recent disclosures.

Funding is structured as a blend of private capital and public-sector grants tied to food-access mandates. The company secured a $13.5 million Community Development Grant from the City of Chicago in July 2022 and closed a $26.5 million investment round in March 2023. Operational infrastructure has been bolstered through partnerships with 127 Wall (operations and real estate) and Flashfood (surplus-food channel). The combination of public-purpose funding, regional concentration in food-desert markets, and a franchise-style license relationship with Save A Lot defines both the business model and the principal contingencies the model carries.

Name

Yellow Banana, LLC

Legal name

Yellow Banana, LLC

Website

https://yellow-banana.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Yellow Banana, LLC is a Cleveland-based retail grocery operator founded in 2021 that owns and operates over 30 discount Save A Lot stores across five U.S. markets, serving price-sensitive and food-insecure consumers through a franchise-licensed, roll-up growth model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Discount Grocery Retail

NAICS

Grocery and Convenience Retailers (4451)

SIC

Retail-Food Stores (5400)

akta.pro primary industry

Rural/Small-Town Dollar Stores (CRAEAAAC)

Keywords

• Discount grocery retail
• Grocery store operations
• Food retail platform
• Food desert intervention
• Community grocery stores

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Grocery Sales: Yellow Banana operates grocery stores under the Save A Lot banner and generates revenue through retail sales of groceries to consumers. The company owns and operates physical retail locations that sell food and household items to shoppers in local communities. The 32 acquired stores were reported to generate annual revenues in excess of $130 million.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Yellow Banana, LLC is a retail grocery platform that owns and operates discount grocery stores under the Save A Lot banner. The company operates a portfolio of over 30 locations across five U.S. metropolitan areas (Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, and Dallas), delivering essential nutrition to working families at affordable prices and addressing food deserts in underserved communities.

Product overview

Yellow Banana is a retail grocery platform that owns and operates discount grocery stores under the Save A Lot brand. The company operates a portfolio of over 30 Save A Lot locations across five major U.S. metropolitan areas (Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, and Dallas). Founded in 2021, Yellow Banana has grown primarily through acquisitions of corporate-owned Save A Lot stores, positioning itself as one of the largest Save A Lot retail partners nationwide. The company differentiates through partnerships with technology platforms like Flashfood for food waste reduction and through public-private partnerships with cities like Chicago for food desert intervention.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Save A Lot Grocery Stores Yellow Banana owns and operates grocery stores under the Save A Lot discount banner. The company operates over 30 locations across Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, and Dallas, selling groceries directly to consumers at affordable prices.

Quantifiable outcome

• $26 million in investment into six locations in underserved communities
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• FlashfoodflagshipTechnology or Integration · 7 December 2022Yellow Banana partnered with Flashfood, a digital marketplace that provides customers access to heavily discounted food nearing its best-by date. The app was rolled out in all Yellow Banana Save A Lot locations, expanding Flashfood's presence to Dallas, TX and Jacksonville, FL for the first time. This partnership helps reduce food waste while offering savings to shoppers.
• 127 WallcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2022127 Wall partnered with Yellow Banana and the City of Chicago in tackling food deserts. This partnership, combined with the $13.5 million Community Development Grant, enables investment in store upgrades and reopening of closed locations in Chicago's underserved communities.
• Save A LotcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 7 September 2021Save A Lot, one of the largest discount grocery chains in the U.S., sold 32 company-owned stores across Greater Cleveland, Greater Chicago, and Greater Milwaukee areas to Yellow Banana in September 2021. This positioned Yellow Banana as one of Save A Lot's largest Retail Partners nationwide. Save A Lot continues as the parent brand/franchisor relationship.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Grocery Outlet: Grocery Outlet is an extreme-value grocery chain that buys opportunistic inventory and sells at deep discounts. It operates a comparable discount-grocery business model targeting price-sensitive consumers in similar geographies.
• Trader Joe's: Trader Joe's is a specialty discount grocer operating small-format stores with curated, value-positioned assortments. It competes in similar urban markets for middle-income grocery shoppers seeking differentiated value propositions.
• Lidl: Lidl is a German discount grocery chain expanding across the U.S. with a similar hard-discount model targeting value-conscious shoppers. It competes for the same customer base in markets where Yellow Banana operates.
• Compare Foods: Compare Foods is a Hispanic-focused discount grocery chain operating in underserved urban neighborhoods. It targets a similar demographic and value-oriented shopper profile as Yellow Banana's food desert stores.
• Aldi: Aldi is a major U.S. discount grocery chain operating small-format stores in similar urban and suburban markets. It directly competes with Yellow Banana's Save A Lot locations for price-sensitive grocery shoppers in underserved communities.

Others

• Flashfood: Flashfood is a technology partner providing Yellow Banana's Save A Lot stores with a digital marketplace for discounted, near-expiration food. It is an enabling technology vendor rather than a direct competitor.
• 127 Wall: 127 Wall is a strategic partner that co-invested with Yellow Banana and the City of Chicago on the $13.5M Community Development Grant. It functions as an enabling real estate partner rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Dollar General: Dollar General is a large dollar store chain aggressively expanding fresh produce and grocery offerings in rural and underserved urban areas. It is a major competitive threat to Yellow Banana's food desert positioning, though it offers broader general merchandise.
• Dollar Tree: Dollar Tree is a major dollar store operator expanding its grocery and consumables assortment in value-oriented markets. It competes with Yellow Banana for share-of-wallet among lower-income shoppers.
• Save A Lot: Save A Lot is the discount grocery brand and franchisor that Yellow Banana operates under. While Yellow Banana is one of its largest retail partners, Save A Lot remains the parent brand setting pricing, supply chain, and merchandising strategy across the network.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yellow-banana-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Yellow Banana, LLC