City officials are resetting their sights on a once-spurned St. Louis-based grocery chain now that Kuhn's Market has dropped plans for a Hill District store.

The Ravenstahl administration and other stakeholders are planning to meet next week or after Thanksgiving with Save-A-Lot representatives to gauge the grocer's interest in opening stores in the Hill and in other city neighborhoods.

Save-A-Lot is back in the picture after Kuhn's, following a year of negotiations and planning, ditched plans for the Hill District store, apparently because of health issues related to its owner.

The city Urban Redevelopment Authority selected Kuhn's over Save-A-Lot for the Hill District store last November, in large part because residents wanted a full-service grocer.

Kuhn's proposed a 40,000-square-foot store with a pharmacy, a bakery and a cafe on the city-owned parcel at Centre Avenue and Heldman Street. Save-A-Lot offered a 16,000-square-foot limited service grocery on the same plot.

City Councilwoman Tonya Payne, a URA board member who represents the Hill, said residents might have to consider a more limited-service store such as Save-A-Lot if they are to have a neighborhood grocery.

"They can either shop at a store like Save-A-Lot and get the majority of their groceries or continue to do what they're doing, either trying to travel to the South Side" or using a Family Dollar store in the Hill, she said. "They don't have a whole lot of options. I'm just providing them an option, not only to buy food that's nutritional but affordable."

Yarone Zober, chief of staff for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and URA board chairman, added there was no use in pursuing Save-A-Lot if residents are set on a full-service grocery.

"But if residents at this point are willing to finally say we want a grocery store, we don't care what it's called, we don't care if it's a Giant Eagle, a Food Lion or a Save-A-Lot ... then I think they have a real shot at having a grocery store within the next year," he said.

But Evan Frazier, the Hill House Association president and CEO who had been negotiating with Kuhn's, said it was premature to give up on a full-service grocer.

"To use Kuhn's as an excuse to go back to Save-A-Lot at this time would sell the community short," he said.

Mr. Frazier said he already was in discussions with at least several full-service operators interested in the Hill and that "we owe it to the community to fully explore them." He would not disclose the names of the operators.

The location, he said, may be even more attractive to some operators now, given that the land has been assembled and the site design has been approved by the city planning commission.

"I'm still very optimistic that the Hill will have a full-service store," he said.

Despite being turned down once, Save-A-Lot is still very interested in putting a store in the Hill, said Dr. Howard Slaughter, the president and CEO of Landmarks Community Capital Corp. who has represented the grocer locally.

While the store would not have a pharmacy, bakery or dry cleaner, it would provide fresh meat and produce along with other groceries to the neighborhood, he said.

"It doesn't have all the amenities of a traditional full-service store. However, the primary focus of a grocery store is to provide groceries. That it does well," he said.

"The oranges that Save-A-Lot has are no different than the oranges a full-service grocer has."

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