CHICAGO — A new state program is looking to help fund the reopening of recently closed grocery stores following the high profile closure of seven South and West side grocers this year.
The Grocery Rescue Program will provide grants up to $1.5 million to business owners who reopen grocery stores across the state that have closed in the last year, Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced Thursday. The state earmarked $4.5 million for the grant program.
The program aims to encourage economic stability, prevent an existing building from deteriorating and reestablish access to fresh foods in communities with low-access to grocery stores, according to the funding opportunity notice. The state defines “low-access” as “a place in which at least 33 percent of the population or at least 500 residents live more than half a mile from a grocery store in an urban census tract, or more than 10 miles from a grocery store in a rural census tract,” according to state data.
Independent grocers or cooperatives with less than 500 employees and no more than four grocery locations that have closed within the last 12 months can apply for the Grocery Rescue Program. Store or property owners associated with the prior store which closed are not eligible.
A customer exits the Save A Lot store at 832 W. 63rd St. in Englewood on its last day in business, Saturday, July 25, 2026. Credit: Alexandra Murphy for Block Club Chicago
The Grocery Rescue Program is the newest addition to the Illinois Grocery Initiative, established by Pritzker in 2024 to expand access to healthy food and eliminate food deserts. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced Thursday over $26 million in new grant funding to support programs under the initiative.
“Local grocery stores are the backbone of communities across the state — keeping our people healthy and fed, growing local economies, and keeping our neighborhoods thriving,” Pritzker said in a Thursday news release. “This latest round of funding from the Illinois Grocery Initiative will keep quality, affordable groceries close to home for Illinois families while supporting small businesses across the state.”
The program’s announcement comes after the high-profile closure of seven Save A Lot stores on the South and West Sides. The closures come despite $26 million in city funding being pumped into the stores, some of which reopened due to the funding and were some of the only grocery options in their neighborhoods..
Despite the city’s efforts, Save A Lot ended its agreement with store operator Yellow Banana in July after the Ohio-based company faced “significant financial headwinds.”
Following the closure, city officials said they were working to find new operators for the stores. In the meantime, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration launched the Neighborhood Market Grant Program to boost grocery businesses in disinvested areas, and the city partnered with Lyft to provide free rides to grocery stores for seniors impacted by the store closures.
Following the announcement of the Illinois Grocery Initiative, Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner at the city’s Department of Planning and Department, told Block Club Thursday that the city “continues to explore all opportunities to reopen the closed Save A Lot stores, including by one or more new operators.”
Chatham residents and Ald. William Hall (6th) protest outside the Chatham Walgreens Monday, May 4, 2026, after officials announced the store would soon close. Credit: Atavia Reed/Block Club Chicago
The state’s Illinois Grocery Initiative also includes the New Stores in Food Deserts Program, which offers grants ranging from $500,000 to $5.2 million to grocers who build grocery stores in areas lacking such stores. Leaders at Austin’s Forty Acres Fresh Market received a $750,000 grant under the program in 2024 to build their brick and mortar store on the West Side.
This round of funding for the New Stores in Food Deserts Program will also support projects that incorporate a pharmacy into new grocery store proposal.
Recent drugstore closures, including Walgreens locations in Chatham, Bronzeville, Little Village, Chicago Lawn, South Chicago, West Roseland and South Shore, have created “pharmacy deserts” on the city’s South and West sides.
Neighbors and local officials tired of “corporate abandonment” have pitched city-funded alternatives to support independent pharmacies. Just this June, Pritzker announced $25 million to support 434 Illinois pharmacies most at risk of closure or financial strain in rural and low-income communities.
Owners applying for the New Stores in Food Deserts Program who include a pharmacy in their proposal must help address the lack of access to prescription medications and other services — like flu-shots or in-person consultations with a pharmacist — that many communities that also have food deserts also face.
“Investing in grocery infrastructure puts us one step closer to eliminating food insecurity in Illinois,” Lieutenant Gov. Juliana Stratton said in a Thursday news release. “The New Stores in Food Deserts program and the Grocery Rescue program are innovative solutions to combatting food deserts, bolstering small businesses, and fueling local economies.”
Applications for the Grocery Rescue Program are available here. The deadline is 5 p.m. June 30. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will host a technical assistance webinar at 2 p.m. Sept. 16.
The deadline to apply for the New Stores in Food Deserts Program is 5 p.m. Dec. 19. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will host a technical assistance webinar at 2 p.m. Sept. 15.
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