Michael A. Nance makes transformative investments in underserved communities in Chicago and beyond. He also supports promising businesses and entrepreneurs.
Yellow Banana, the majority black-owned company he co-founded under his company 127 Wall, operates nearly 40 grocery stores under the Save A Lot banner in the Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Jacksonville and Dallas metropolitan areas.
“What we’ve tried to make our calling card is to go into localities that other people won’t go into,” Nance said in a recent TV interview.
Recently, Yellow Banana closed on a $26.5 million investment to upgrade six stores on the South and West sides of Chicago. It’s an investment that reinforces Nance and the company’s commitment to delivering “essential nutrition to working families at affordable prices.”
This mission to help struggling communities access fresh, nutritious food comes from Nance’s lived experience. While growing up on Cleveland’s East side, he recalled his family having to shop at a local Save A Lot store that was woefully underfunded.
Nevertheless, Nance would emerge to earn his bachelor’s from Morehouse College, where he graduated magna cum laude. He also received his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the Yale School of Law.
Today, Yellow Banana, which he co-founded with three other entrepreneurs, employs over 400 employees and boasts nearly $200 million in annual revenues.
In addition to serving as Yellow Bananas’s co-founder, Nance is a partner at the Chicago-based law firm Bartlit Beck where he represents clients in high-stakes trials.
This 2023 Men of Excellence nominee has made his mark as a skilled litigator and compassionate investor committed to providing access to customers and supporting diverse and inclusive businesses and entrepreneurs.
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