WNY woman climbs from cashier to co-owner of grocery store

For almost 15 years, Jessica Newman has worked at various Save-A-Lot stores in Western New York. She started as a cashier when she was 16, eventually becoming a store manager then district manager under the ownership of Suzanne Schmitz.

Wednesday, May 2, Schmitz will open her fifth Save-A-Lot store. This time, with Newman by her side as a co-owner.

"That's been my intention all along," Schmitz said. "Jessica has worked for us since she was 16 and you can usually tell right away when it's your type of person and Jessica definitely is. That's definitely been in the back of my mind for a long time."

Newman will own 10-percent of the newest Save-A-Lot at 1365 Nash Road in North Tonawanda.

"I was honored because it's not something they have to do and it just made me feel like all my hard work paid off," Newman said. "It means everything. I've really grown to love my job and this has just made future plans for me and know I'm headed in the right direction. I'm super excited."

Schmitz took a similar path to ownership. She also started working at Save-A-Lot as a cashier in her teens.

The new location opens May 2nd at 8 a.m. and the first 100 shoppers will get a free bag of groceries. The location includes a full meat department and butcher, as well as a full produce department.