The former Pick 'n Save at 2931 S. Chicago Ave. in South Milwaukee has a new owner, and city officials are hoping it soon has a new grocer, too. An affiliate of Acre Investment Co. acquired the shuttered store for $2.2 million, with Piggly Wiggly eyed as a possible tenant for the long-vacant building.
A California Buyer Steps In
The sale closed with an affiliate of Acre Investment Co. purchasing the former South Milwaukee Pick 'n Save, according to reporting by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Tom Daykin, who reported the deed was posted online by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue on September 9. Acre Investment Co. is based in Pleasanton, California, according to a LoopNet company profile.
The building itself is no small footprint. A separate LoopNet listing describes the property as a single-story, 60,196-square-foot freestanding retail building constructed in 1967 on a 5.65-acre site with 249 parking spaces, situated along a corridor that sees more than 11,000 vehicles a day.
Why the Store Went Dark
The vacancy traces back to mid-2025, when Kroger announced it was closing 60 stores nationwide to streamline operations and selected five Pick 'n Save locations in Milwaukee County for shutdown, including the South Milwaukee store, as reported by FOX6 News Milwaukee. Kroger returned to the Milwaukee market in 2015 through an acquisition of Milwaukee-based Roundy's Supermarkets, according to background compiled on Wikipedia. The article also references the Pick 'n Save, Metro Market, and Mariano's chains.
Corporate executives cited performance and efficiency when slating the stores for closure, but that rationale has faced pushback. A Milwaukee police data analysis published in March revealed that theft-related incident reports actually declined by approximately 18% from pandemic-era years to 2022 through 2024 across the analyzed Pick 'n Save locations, challenging the theft and efficiency claims tied to the closures, as Hoodline detailed in its earlier coverage, Numbers Bust Theft Blame.
Grocery Gap Left Behind
With the Pick 'n Save gone, South Milwaukee still has an ALDI store at 3105 S. Chicago Avenue. The gap has spurred city officials to actively court a replacement, and Hoodline previously reported that South Milwaukee was in active negotiations with Piggly Wiggly Midwest to open a location at the former Pick 'n Save site. Separately, South Milwaukee has a Bucyrus campus.
Piggly Wiggly Midwest is part of the C&S Wholesale Grocers family. The chain has kept up regional investment: in June, Piggly Wiggly Midwest completed a comprehensive store redesign and held a grand reopening for its location at 123 W. Oklahoma Ave. E in nearby Bay View, per an announcement from C&S Wholesale Grocers, with the remodel updating fresh produce, deli, and bakery departments.
A Building With a Troubled Interim
While the site sat vacant, it wasn't spared trouble. In October 2025, law enforcement officials charged a man with stealing copper wiring from multiple vacant Pick 'n Save stores, including the shuttered South Milwaukee location, resulting in an estimated $1.5 million in structural damage, according to WISN 12 News. The building remained vulnerable to vandalism while awaiting a new tenant.
Negotiations are continuing, and no timeline has been confirmed for when — or whether — a Piggly Wiggly might actually open its doors at the South Chicago Avenue address. For now, the sale marks a concrete step toward filling one of South Milwaukee's most visible commercial vacancies, even as residents wait to see what replaces the grocery store that once anchored the corridor.
