Bob Mariano is getting back into groceries
Bob Mariano is getting back into groceries
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Bob Mariano is getting back into groceries
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Post #1 - May 18th, 2020, 8:34 pmArticle from Crain's Chicago Business on May 18, 2020:Bob Mariano is returning to the grocery industry with a $10 million investment to create a new chain aimed at combining shopping, restaurant dining and home delivery.
The new venture, Dom’s Market & Kitchen, is planned for a March 2021 debut at a yet-to-be announced Lincoln Park location. The small-format store will feature specialty foods and take-home and dine-in meals prepared in an open kitchen. Groceries and meal kits will also be available for delivery, according to a statement from the new company. It plans to add Chicago locations, focusing on urban neighborhoods, once its Lincoln Park spot is up and running.
Mariano is partnering with fellow industry veterans Jay Owen and Don Fitzgerald to jump-start the venture. Owen is the grandson of Dominick’s founder Dominick DiMatteo, and Fitzgerald was a former executive with Mariano at Roundy’s. Mariano was CEO and chairman of Milwaukee-based Roundy's, before Cincinnati-based Kroger acquired the company in 2015. He retired a year later, after Kroger instituted executive team consolidations amid budgetary pressures.
"Dom’s will be a neighborhood destination where consumers can drop in several times per week, explore new foods, watch the cooking process in open preparation areas, participate in a wine tasting class, dine in, or take home prepared foods or cooking ingredients," Owen said in the statement.
Dominick's closed in 2013 after it failed to modernize stores and compete with Whole Foods.
Mariano, best best-known for his namesake area grocery chain, was able to correct the mistakes made at Dominick's with Mariano's Fresh Markets. The 41 stores around the Chicago area initially featured upscale dining options like an oyster bar, a live piano player and wine-tasting events.
But Mariano's stores have faced mounting customer criticism in recent years with Kroger implementing changes like introducing more private-label brands, increasing the number of self-checkout lanes and removing those upscale upgrades.
Article:
http://archive.is/V0ODr
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Post #2 - May 18th, 2020, 9:24 pmI wish Kroger had never taken over Mariano's. When this happened Bob said that this would not affect the Mariano stores, but they have been dumbed down to save money. They got rid of the piano player, and the produce section is not nearly as good as it used to be. When I go in the store at 4:00 usually there is nobody working in produce. The only good thing is that the prices are a little cheaper. I wish he never would have sold the chain to Kroger.
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Post #3 - May 19th, 2020, 5:48 amI wonder if the undisclosed location is the old Mrs. Green's space at Webster and N. Lincoln, it would seem to be a perfect fit for what they're proposing.
Edit: Looks like Target is putting something in that space so apparently not.Cookingblahg.blogspot.com
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Post #4 - May 19th, 2020, 6:53 amWe'll see. Owen may be the grandson of DiMatteo, and Bob Mariano used to work for the old man, but that doesn't mean they can resurrect a viable brand that was driven into the ground with a stake. Dominick's was an everyman's grocery with a little flair when I started working for them in 1973. However, I'm still waiting for my pension from being forced to join the Retail Clerks Union at the ripe age of 16...
Our Vernon Hills Mariano's has fared quite well during the pandemic, at least from personal experience. Plenty of meat, reasonably-priced produce, and for our last pickup they waived our $5.00 shopping fee, which even if I would've paid it is a bargain-and-a-half.
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Post #5 - May 19th, 2020, 7:38 amSounds like a Standard Market.
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Post #6 - May 19th, 2020, 9:19 amWish him well as Mariano's took a steep hit when Kroger bought them. A shadow of their former self."In pursuit of joys untasted"
from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata
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Post #7 - May 19th, 2020, 9:23 amGood luck. Like everything else they touch, Kroger destroyed Mariano's.
=R=By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. --Kambei Shimada
Every human interaction is an opportunity for disappointment --RS
There's a horse loose in a hospital --JM
That don't impress me much --Shania Twain
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Post #8 - May 19th, 2020, 12:14 pmNFriday wrote:I wish Kroger had never taken over Mariano's. When this happened Bob said that this would not affect the Mariano stores, but they have been dumbed down to save money. They got rid of the piano player, and the produce section is not nearly as good as it used to be. When I go in the store at 4:00 usually there is nobody working in produce. The only good thing is that the prices are a little cheaper. I wish he never would have sold the chain to Kroger.
I think Mariano's was in steep decline long before Kroger came into the picture. Quality was all over the place, produce was horrible, the check out staff had trouble distinguishing betweeen a green pepper and a string bean. We migrated back to a combination of Jewel and Whole Foods. Kroger with their sea of branded products and inconsistent stocking sealed the deal for us.
I never saw any purpose in the piano player, so that was no loss to us.
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Post #9 - May 19th, 2020, 1:26 pmchicagojim wrote:
I never saw any purpose in the piano player, so that was no loss to us.
The first time I walked into a Mariano's I figured the piano player wouldn't last as long as a bag of salad....
That being said, I miss the variety of grocery stores in the Chicago metro area, Denver is a wasteland for interesting markets.
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Post #10 - May 19th, 2020, 6:44 pmronnie_suburban wrote:Good luck. Like everything else they touch, Kroger destroyed Mariano's.
=R=
I am in total agreement. I did 95% of my grocery shopping at Marianos when Bob Mariano owned the chain. Now it might be 1%.
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Post #11 - May 19th, 2020, 8:14 pmIt's funny, I've drifted back to Jewel too, I'd been mostly Mariano's last year.
There are still things the Glenview West store does better than Mount Prospect Jewel:
Orange juice
Breakfast sausage at the meat counter
Krab and shrimp salad
Cheese selection
But those are only occasional purchases. Empty shelves of basic produce (cilantro, ginger, both on multiple occasions) make it a tough place to go for regular shopping.What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
-- Lin Yutang
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Post #12 - May 20th, 2020, 12:34 pmJoelF wrote:It's funny, I've drifted back to Jewel too, I'd been mostly Mariano's last year.
There are still things the Glenview West store does better than Mount Prospect Jewel:
Orange juice
Breakfast sausage at the meat counter
Krab and shrimp salad
Cheese selection
But those are only occasional purchases. Empty shelves of basic produce (cilantro, ginger, both on multiple occasions) make it a tough place to go for regular shopping.
This is now going into a quibble over a small issue. But at least in the South Loop store, the [meager] selection of fresh herbs is in one place, except the Basil is behind you all by its self - of course this is only true when they have it at all, which is by no means insured.
