Save Mart has a new owner. See how wide the grocery store’s presence is in Merced County

One of the biggest supermarkets in Merced County, Save Mart, has a new owner.

The company announced Monday that it was bought by Kingswood Capital Management LP, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, which also bought Cost Plus World Market last year.

The Modesto-based supermarket has 200 stores in California and Northern Nevada.

Save Mart has a huge presence in Merced. There’s also Fresno’s Save Mart Center that can seat up to 18,000 people for concerts, games and other events.

Merced County has three Save Mart stores, with locations in Merced, Atwater and Los Banos, and while nearby Chowchilla in Madera County has one.

It has 12 stores in Fresno and Clovis. To compare, another big grocer, Vons, has four stores in Fresno and Clovis.

Save Mart has four supermarkets in Visalia. And one store each in Madera, Kingsburg, Reedley, Hanford, Lemoore, Exeter, Coalinga and Lindsay.

Save Mart also owns discount grocer FoodMaxx, with five stores in Fresno and Clovis, and one each in Visalia and Merced.

Store closings

Save Mart’s presence was once much larger. As the grocery scene got more competitive, the company closed at least six stores in Fresno and Clovis in recent years, and at least two in Merced.

That includes the store at Blackstone and Clinton avenues in Fresno, which was turned into a Smart & Final Extra! store.

A Save Mart at the southeast corner of Clovis and Herndon avenues closed in 2007 and was later turned into a Sprouts.

In 2014, a Save Mart at Kings Canyon Road and Clovis Avenue was converted into a FoodMaxx.

The store on Figarden Drive near Bullard Avenue closed in 2011.

And Save Mart stores at Fruit and McKinley avenues in Fresno and Bullard and Minnewawa avenues in Clovis closed and were taken over by Dollar General Market stores.

Stores have also closed over the years in Kerman and Sanger.

This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 11:37 AM.