Save-A-Lot coming soon to Danville

Signs are erected to show Save-A-Lot, a discount grocery store, is opening soon at Piney Forest Shopping Center in Danville.

Signs are erected to show Save-A-Lot, a discount grocery store, is opening soon at Piney Forest Shopping Center in Danville.

Crews are working now to get the 16,200-square-foot former Food Lion space ready for customers within the next six to eight weeks, owner and operator Lee Armbuster, of Penhook, said.

Twenty people from Danville have already been hired. More employees will be added as the store grows.

“I cannot understate how enthusiastic everybody we’ve met has been,” Armbuster said. “I’m talking from the city fathers … to customers who walk up to the door. The employees we hired are thrilled.”

The renovations also employed several local subcontracting companies. Building Specialties of Roanoke is the general contractor.

“It’s helping us now. It’s helping us work,” said Vice President Jerry Manning of J.W. Squire Company Inc. in Danville. “When we’re finished, it’s going to give somebody else permanent jobs.”

After such a stagnated economy, he’s glad another business is opening, he added.

“I’m just happy, tickled to death,” Manning said.

Armbuster made the decision to open a store in Danville about a year ago. He retired to his vacation home on Smith Mountain Lake four years ago after spending 35 years experience in the grocery industry.

He didn’t want to stay retired, but he and his wife Karol didn’t want to leave, either.

“We decided we don’t want to leave Southwest Virginia. We love it,” Armbuster said. “We love the topography. We love the people. We love the community.”

He felt there was a place for Save-A-Lot in Danville. The grocer uses a smaller, limited assortment model. With its focus on carrying the most popular items and sizes, it can leverage buying power to offer high quality goods at lower costs than conventional supermarkets.

The goal for Save-A-Lot and Armbuster is to offer customers 40 percent savings on their grocery bill compared to conventional stores.

“This is my family’s commitment to the Danville community,” he said.

Armbuster got to know Save-A-Lot through its parent company Supervalu. Armbuster held multiple CEO and president positions for Supervalu after Supervalu purchased Laneco.

Armbuster worked his way up to the president position at Laneco after starting his career in the grocery industry for Food Lanes in eastern Pennsylvania. At age 16, he left Bethany Children’s Home in Womelsdorf, Pa., and needed a job to support himself.

He worked his way through high school and college and joined the management training program at Laneco. The grocery industry was also how he met his wife.

Armbuster hopes to serve the people of Danville better than anyone else. Once accomplishing that, he may open additional stores.

“I’ve learned that whatever an individual chooses to do, he can do,” Armbuster said. “You’re only limited by your imagination.”