Family-owned grocery store chain Walt’s was reopened under the new management of Berkot’s Super Foods, another family-owned chain based in Mokena, on Oct. 28.

The new opening took place just over a month after the sale was announced in a letter to employees. 

Walt’s was founded in 1937 by Walt Lagestee, who opened its first site that year in South Holland and took over a former A&P store in Homewood soon after. Since then, the business has expanded from a simple fruit and vegetable stand to a supermarket with a bakery and a complex variety of groceries and meats, boasting five separate locations in Homewood, Crete, Beecher, the South Holland site, which closed in 2024, and a store in Dyer, Indiana.

“Businesses are rewarded with loyal customers when products are fresh and service is second to none. And we grew,” the company’s website reads. “The humble store was expanded to meet the flood of happy customers, and our dreams of success were being fulfilled.” 

The Lagestee family detailed the sale in the letter to employees dated Sept. 24. “We are confident that Berkot’s Super Foods, as another family-owned independent grocery chain, will continue to operate these stores with the same family values we have held for all these decades,” the letter read. 

John Kotara, resident and former A&P manager, started Berkot’s Super Foods in Mokena in 1990 after seeing “an opportunity to bring a fresh, customer-focused shopping experience to [his] local community,” the company website shared. 

The chain is currently part of the nationwide cooperative Associated Wholesale Grocers and boasts 16 stores throughout the Midwest. 

Tim Kelly, who works for Berkot’s Super Foods business development and logistics team, appeared at the Oct. 14 Homewood Village Board meeting to address community concerns about current Walt’s employees, assuring residents that “every single one of them has been offered employment.”

Kelly spoke excitedly about the team’s plans for change in the upcoming months. “We will be spending millions of dollars renovating and updating the store,” shared Kelly. 

A flyer with a timeline of the transition was provided for customers during the transition week, including statements from Walt’s and Berkot’s. “We look forward to serving you,” the Berkot’s team shared. 

Local residents of Homewood and Flossmoor can continue to shop at the location under the name of Berkot’s Super Foods.