Schnucks Markets Inc. has agreed to buy 19 St. Louis-area Shop ‘n Save stores; 14 in Missouri and five in Illinois.

Along with those 19, Shop ‘n Save announced they will be closing their remaining St. Louis locations by Nov. 19 if a buyer does not come forward.

“I think it’s the same, looks the same, just maybe higher prices,” freshman Mollie Banstetter said.

The process of closing the stores and rebranding them began on Oct. 7 and has been completed. The stores closed for two days then reopened as Schnucks.

“I hate it, it makes me really upset. I think it’s just because I hate change of any kind, so driving by it and seeing it makes me upset,” junior Haleigh McCune said.

The company also announced that all union employees will retain their current rate of pay, hours and comparable job position. Employees also continue to have health coverage and pension consistent to union agreements. Managers of Shop ‘n Save stores will be interviewed for possible employment. Employees of the remaining Shop ‘n Save locations will lose their jobs if they aren’t bought out.

“I don’t really think much about it, I think some people will feel strongly about it and others won’t, but I shop at Aldis,” T.O. said.

Some of the pharmacies in Shop ‘n Save will be included in the purchase, but other prescriptions will be moved to the nearest Schnucks location.

According to an experiment by 5 On Your Side by KSDK Channel 5 where the same items were bought at both stores, Schnucks is actually cheaper than Shop n’ Save.

Shop n’ Save formerly owned 36 stores in Missouri and is headquartered in Kirkwood.