Judy H wrote:Nearly driven crazy by the ongoing "renovations" at the Howard and McCormick Jewel. It's dirty, chaotic, hard to find things...How have they screwed up the Howard Jewel so badly -- why don't they close for a week and get the renovations done instead of dragging it out and making shopping so unpleasant?

I have felt your pain (as evidenced by some of my posts upthread about the Ashland-Wellington Jewel)--and wondered like you why they couldn't get it done faster--but maybe, when the work is done, you'll feel as I do that it was worth it.

Anecdotal evidence: Just got a phone call from my wife who is at the A-W Jewel that the place is jammed pack with shoppers as she's seldom seen it before. Maybe they're voting with their feet.

Hi- I was just at the Wilmette Green Bay Jewel last night. They are having their grand opening right now, and I decided to check it out to see if there were any grand opening bargains. I concluded that there were not, but boy has the store changed even since I was in there about three weeks ago. They relocated the customer service, to where the Osco photo department used to be, and their is a small eating area where customer service used to be. They now have a salad bar, although I did not see a hot bar. They also have lots of fresh squeezed orange juice for $3.75, which is what Mariano's charges. They are supposed to have a bulk food section, but I did not see it. They also have organic chicken in the butcher case, and they seem to have more upscale stuff in the store. You can definitely tell that they are trying to compete with Mariano's. I always look for the clearance section when I shop at Jewel, but I did not see one tonight. The store was not crazy busy, but it was 8:00 pm, when I showed up there.. Hope this helps, Nancy

Phil Rosenthal has a column in the business section of today's Tribune in which he trenchantly and adeptly satirizes Sam Zell's proposed takeover of more than 100 grocery stores owned by Albertson's. (The column culminates in some imagined ways Zell might ruin a grocery store chain based on the ways he ruined the Tribune.)

However, something in it confuses me. Near the beginning of the column Rosenthal refers to Albertson's as "the parent of Jewel-Osco." Further down he says the takeover "may or may not include Jewel-Osco locations."

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I might be), but didn't Albertson's divest itself of Jewel-Osco when the Jewel-Osco chain was acquired by the investment group Cerberus? In which case Albertson's is no longer the parent of Jewel-Osco, and no takeover by Zell of Albertson's stores could possibly involve any Jewel-Oscos. Right?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/ct-rosenthal-sam-zell-jewel-albertsons-1116-biz-20141114-column.html

Hi- Unfortunately I could not access the article in the Trib., but Albertson's, are no longer involved with Jewel. As far as I know Cerberus is the sole owner of Jewel right now. Apparently Cerberus is known to buy distressed grocery store chains, and turn them around, and then sell them again in a few years. At least from what I understand Jewel is finally making money right now, although I don't know how all this store remodeling that is taking place is affecting their bottom line. I have heard that Kroger would like to take over Jewel, but they would have to sell at least some of their Food4Less stores in order to do that. I think that the employees at Jewel would prefer to work for Kroger.

I can't imagine Sam Zell buying out Jewel. Does he still own the Trib? I know when he sold the Cubs he said it was because he needed the money, because he was loosing so much money at the Trib., but then recently the Trib. found enough money to buy Pioneer Press and some other newspapers from the Sun Times. Thanks, Nancy

Jewel was and is owned by Albertson's, which was then acquired by Super Valu. Some Albertsons stores were sold to Cerberus at that time. Since then Cerberus bought the rest of Albertson's including Jewel from Super Valu and more recently is in the process of acquiring Safeway. Because there is more than a little overlap between Safeway and Albertson's in the west, divestiture of some stores will likely be needed to pass antitrust scrutiny. There is very little chance that any Jewel stores will need to be divested for antitrust reasons although some underperforming stores might be dumped for other reasons. Simple chain: Cerberus owns Albertson's which owns Jewel.

Sam Zell's Tribune stock was wiped out in the bankruptcy reorganization, which also split the Tribune company into two separate companies.

"...in January 2013, Albertsons LLC, acquired SuperValu's remaining Albertsons stores, as well its ACME, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's and Star Market brands, in exchange for $100 million in cash and $3.2 Billion in SuperValu debt. The sale was completed by March 2013."

Wikipedia has a detailed history of all the buying and selling that has gone on. The Albertsons name survives although it is Cerberus.

Thanks ekreider! You beat me to it.

ekreider wrote:Simple chain: Cerberus owns Albertson's which owns Jewel.

So, let me see if I've got this straight as far as the Phil Rosenthal story goes. Zell wants to buy all or part of Albertson's from Cerberus. If he succeeds in buying all or part of Albertson's from Cerberus, this may include some or all of the Jewel-Osco chain.

Right?

And just when Jewel-Osco stores were getting better...

Zell wants to buy some stores from Albertson's that will have to be divested for antitrust reasons in order for Cerberus to be allowed to buy Safeway. There is considerable overlap between Albertson's and Safeway in California. Since Safeway closed Dominick's, there is no overlap between Jewel and Safeway. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that any Jewel stores will have to be divested. Phil Rosenthal's column is fantasy.

There will be multiple bidders for the divested stores.

Thanks, ekreider. That's the clarity I was looking for.

Last night I renewed my dislike for Jewel. Hate would be too strong a term, as I still will probably run in there for stuff when necessary, but avoidance seems more likely as there are plenty of other options in the area. Here is why:

Last night I decided to use some of the left over grilled chicken I had and make some Chicken in Adobo Tacos. I needed a few things, tortillas being one of them, and a few other "essentials". I just wanted something quick and didn't want to do a bunch of prep. Earlier in the day when driving around the little voice in my head that told me to stop in the Del Rancho market as I drove by and pick up some fresh tortillas, avocados and fresh made pico de gallo was not assertive enough, so later that evening I found myself in Jewel River Forest looking for the same.

Tortillas were nowhere to be found, strike one. ANY type of fresh made pico/salsa/guac/etc....nowhere to be found, strike two. I figured, ok, I can make a quick batch of guac and Pico, no big deal. I went to the Avocados, 90% of them were so soft they were unusable. I'm sure cutting into them would have revealed black unusable mush, the ones that weren't mush were as you probably guessed, hard as a rock, strike three (plus they were $2.49 a piece). Lastly, I sorted thru the available cilantro, and the bunches were either wilted, slimey or the ones that did look ok had absolutely no aroma whatsoever. A produce manager happened to be walking by and I mentioned the avocados and cilantro and she just shrugged, not a care in the world, strike four and five. The produce department at Jewel is a disgrace.

I gave up, left the store without purchasing anything and went to the Whole Foods a block away and found everything I need for less than the posted prices at Jewel.

Hi,

I visit two Jewels: Deerfield Road in Highland Park and just off Schmale Rd in Wheaton.

Over the last year, I came to realize how Jewel now micro markets their stores. At the Jewel in Wheaton, I can reliably find milk at $2.59 a gallon. It is often cheaper than my Highland Park Jewel, which was $2.99 the last time I checked.

The Jewel in Highland Park had a 10% off your total receipt some time ago. When I visited Jewel in Wheaton, I did not find a similar coupon. I visited the service desk who said they offered the same a few weeks before. She elaborated the difficulties of a nearby Jewel offering 10%, when their location did not.

If I did not visit these two stores regularly, I would never have noticed. There are probably much more subtle differences, though my shopping routines didn't pick it up.

Certainly, it has been noted stock may vary depending on the immediate ethnic populations. For instance, the Highland Park Jewel is often referred to as the 'Jewish Jewel' due to its Rabbi supervised Kosher section.

Regards,

The produce section at Jewel varies from store to store. At the Plaza del lago store on Sheridan road in Wilmette it is actually pretty good. In the Wilmette store on Green Bay it is okay. In both of the Evanston stores it is so so. I am surprised that they did not have tortillas and guac at your Jewel store. They have then at the Jewel stores I go to all the time. They make their guac in house, and it used to be $2.99 a container, and now I believe it is $4.99 a container. I never buy the stuff, and so I don't know how large the container is. Here in Evanston, there are not a lot of options besides Jewel and Whole Foods, and so I do go to Jewel at least once a week. When the farmer's market is open though, I often only buy a few things at Jewel. The last time I went to Jewel this last Saturday, all I bought was a loaf of bread and a bunch of bananas. For the person that was in the Howard and McCormick Jewel recently, and complained about the fact that it was all torn up. I was in there last Wednesday, and I did not find the store disorganized any more. The self checkout lines are gone now, and in their place they have some express lanes.

Here in Evanston, there are not a lot of options besides Jewel and Whole Foods

Hey! If you go a block south of Howard on Asbury/Western, you have the Morelia supermarket, with its house-made tortillas (white or yellow corn), and at least a half dozen varieties of salsa, in addition to butcher-served meats, better produce than you'll ever see at Jewel, and an in-house bakery, as well as hot Mexican specialty foods. Go just north of Central, and you have the Treasure Island at Lake and Ridge in Wilmette, with the best meat department in the area. (And don't forget the Trader Joe's in Evanston - apart from the exotic stuff and the wine/beer selection, they carry a good amount of stuff like dishwasher detergent, cheap multi-packs of TP and paper towels, and such.) As a long-time far North Sider and repeat Evanstonian, I can't see any need to ever go to the Jewels for anything, ever.

Hi- One of the reasons I shop at Jewel is because there is only a handful of things I care for at Trader Joe's, and I sing with the North Shore Choral Society, and one of our many fundraisers is Jewel gift cards. We used to do the shop and share at Jewel and Dominick's until they discontinued the program. Now we buy Jewel gift cards in bulk, and we get 5% off on them, and somebody that sings with us buys them, and charges them on his AMEX card, which gives him 4.75% back, which he in turn deducts from the amount that we owe him for the gift cards. We make 9.75% on the gift cards when we resell them to members. I just bought a $100 Jewel gift card a week ago, and I still have $96 on the card. I have been mostly buying my milk at CVS when you get $1 extra buck back when you purchase a gallon of milk. CVS also emailed me a $3 coupon for my birthday last week too, and so I am going to get free milk this week. I used to go to TI when I used to work for somebody that lived down the street from there, but the last time I went past there, I had two people in the car with me, and one of them hates to go grocery shopping, and buys 100% of his groceries at Whole Foods because it is only three blocks from where he lives in downtown Evanston. He is not big on cooking anyway, and hits the salad bar at WF a lot, and also goes to subway.

Unfortunately,Jewel has reverted to their higher pricing. When they changed hands last time we were promised everyday low prices. Slowly but surely their prices have increased to the point where every one of their competitors around me,Strack & Van Til,Ultra,or Walts,beats them on just about every item. From being back in my regular rotation they are now once again just an afterthought, with the exception being a good loss leader sale.

Hi- It depends on how much competition a Jewel store has. In all of the Jewel stores in Evanston and Wilmette bananas are $.49 a pound, but in the Jewel stores that are near a Mariano's bananas are always $.39 a pound. When I was in the Jewel on Howard that used to be a Dominick's right by the Howard L station, they had bananas for $.39 and milk for $2.50 a gallon. I don't know why they were lower, because there is no Mariano's store in that neighborhood. I have also heard that people that live near a Mariano's and a Jewel store have received coupons in the mail that are only good for that particular Jewel store, such as $20 off a $50 purchase, and the $50 requirement is usually before coupons are deducted.

The Jewel store on Chicago Avenue is across the street from Whole Foods and down the street from Trader Joe's, but from what I see all three stores are doing okay, and Jewel has not been forced to lower its prices to compete. It is kind of strange because you would assume that this particular Jewel store would have lots of natural food to compete with WF, but the Jewel on Green Bay in Wilmette actually has a lot more natural foods than the Jewel that is across the street from Whole Foods.

Don't ask me why I care, because I'm not an investor in whatever hedge fund owns Jewel, yet I do. At the Ashland/Wellington location, at the hot and cold buffet bars they installed during the recent remodel, I usually see not one person at them regardless of time of day, and have never seen more than one. Mariano's customers and Whole Foods customers seem to want to avail themselves of this sort of amenity more than Jewel customers do.

Hi- I usually either go to the Chicago Avenue Jewel in Evanston, or the Green Bay Wilmette store. The Chicago Avenue store is the only Jewel that I have been in lately that still has the self checkout lanes, and they have not done any remodeling in the store either, and so they don't have the salad bar that the Green Bay store has added, and they don't have the freshly squeezed juice, The few times I have been at the Northfield Mariano's store, they have been selling the freshly squeezed orange juice like crazy. One Saturday afternoon I was there for over an hour, and the guy was squeezing juice the entire time I was there. There were also lots of people at the salad bar. At the WIlmette Jewel store, I never see anybody buying the fresh squeezed juice, even though it is the same price there as it is at Mariano's, which is $3.75 a half gallon. When I was in Jewel Saturday afternoon though, I did see somebody squeezing some more juice, so they must sell some at least. I never see anybody at the salad bar at that Jewel store either. Has anybody tried the fresh orange juice at Jewel? Is it as good as the juice at Mariano's. Maybe it would help if they would put out samples for people to try like Mariano's does.

When I was at the Green Bay Jewel around 1:00pm, this last Saturday, they were definitely busy though. It took me a few minutes to find a parking space. I don't know how much their business is going to be hurt though when Whole Foods opens up in the old Dominick's location three blocks down the street. I hope that the guy that owns the house that is sitting in the WF parking lot right now, finds a lot to put the house on before they open up the store. The house has been sitting there for at least two months. Somebody was going to tear down the house in Wilmette, and this guy asked if he could have it instead, and it cost him $80,000 to move the house to its current location. THanks, Nancy

The Randhurst Jewel still has the self check out. I have noticed that their produce and grocery selection has improved modestly since the influx of competition, but I'm still not impressed with the meat department.

NFriday wrote:I never see anybody at the salad bar at that Jewel store either.

This raises the question in my mind, 1) Are the hot and cold buffet bars at Mariano's and Whole Foods so much more popular than the ones at the remodeled Jewels because they have so many more tempting foodstuffs? Or 2) Are the kind of people who shop at Jewel just not the kind of people who want to eat at a supermarket? Or 3) Is there something about Jewel that makes people not excited about the prospect of eating there?

I tend to think it's 3). Jewel occupies a firmly "utilitarian" space in people's minds. You go to Mariano's or Whole Foods partly for the experience. You go to Jewel to get what the hell you need and get the hell out. Jewel might want to change this. But they're fighting about a hundred years of history.

Hi- As far as I know none of the Jewels I ever frequent have hot bars unless you include the wings and fried chicken. With hot and salad bars too, you need to have somebody maintaining them, and I never see anybody maintaining the salad bar at that particular Jewel too. The Green Bay Jewel that has a salad bar, only has a small area with about three small tables to sit at. Especially with the hot bar, it helps if you have a fast turnover which Mariano's and Whole Foods seems to. I've sampled the hot bar at all three WF stores in New Orleans and they were all good, including their newest store, which is not in a upper middle class neighborhood like their other two stores are. The store in the lower middle class neighborhood did not have as many choices at their hot bar though.

Don't forget that on the weekends Mariano's has somebody playing the piano, while you are eating your food.

Jewel on Howard in Evanston recently remodeled and has a new hot food bar. Not sure if it's kosher, as the store specializes in having many kosher products and sections.

AaronSinger wrote:Jewel on Howard in Evanston recently remodeled and has a new hot food bar. Not sure if it's kosher. . . .

It is not kosher - has large signs indicating it is not kosher - however there is a soup bar just beyond the hot food bar that does have kosher soups -

This raises the question in my mind, 1) Are the hot and cold buffet bars at Mariano's and Whole Foods so much more popular than the ones at the remodeled Jewels because they have so many more tempting foodstuffs? Or 2) Are the kind of people who shop at Jewel just not the kind of people who want to eat at a supermarket? Or 3) Is there something about Jewel that makes people not excited about the prospect of eating there?

I think it's a combination of #1 and #3. The hot and cold bars at the two Jewels I occasionally visit, Evanston (Howard) and Andersonville, are pretty pathetic compared to WF or Mariano's offerings. The variety of other ready-to-eat offerings is also poor compared to WF and Mariano's and I don't think there is any place to sit and eat at either of these locations.

At the Howard store, there is also the fact that none of the hot/cold bar food is kosher, which is going to instantly eliminate a significant percentage of that store's clientele from consideration. The kosher Chinese takeout and the few other ready-to-eat kosher items (e.g. fried or roasted chicken) seem to do pretty well at that store.

Yes a greater percentage of the Jewel on Howard do keep kosher and would not partake of that food bar but there is still a great number of non-kosher customers who would - When I have gone it seems no more than 10% of the customers are concerned about the kasrut (kosher-ness) of the food.

RobS wrote:This raises the question in my mind, 1) Are the hot and cold buffet bars at Mariano's and Whole Foods so much more popular than the ones at the remodeled Jewels because they have so many more tempting foodstuffs? Or 2) Are the kind of people who shop at Jewel just not the kind of people who want to eat at a supermarket? Or 3) Is there something about Jewel that makes people not excited about the prospect of eating there?

I think it's a combination of #1 and #3. The hot and cold bars at the two Jewels I occasionally visit, Evanston (Howard) and Andersonville, are pretty pathetic compared to WF or Mariano's offerings. The variety of other ready-to-eat offerings is also poor compared to WF and Mariano's and I don't think there is any place to sit and eat at either of these locations.

At the Howard store, there is also the fact that none of the hot/cold bar food is kosher, which is going to instantly eliminate a significant percentage of that store's clientele from consideration. The kosher Chinese takeout and the few other ready-to-eat kosher items (e.g. fried or roasted chicken) seem to do pretty well at that store.

Mariano's has created a very clear brand identity, much like Whole Foods. They have always presented themselves as having whole meal options in their prepared foods (entree and sides deals) and will grill any item in their meat/fish cases, so people view it as a mid-point between dining out and cooking at home. Add in their "food court" stations along with hot bar offerings and it becomes a real draw.

Jewel, at best, had fried/roasted chicken and a side of potatoes or prepared salad. They're playing "catch-up" now, which is always harder to do.

spinynorman99 wrote:Mariano's has created a very clear brand identity, much like Whole Foods. They have always presented themselves as having whole meal options in their prepared foods (entree and sides deals) and will grill any item in their meat/fish cases, so people view it as a mid-point between dining out and cooking at home. Add in their "food court" stations along with hot bar offerings and it becomes a real draw.

Jewel, at best, had fried/roasted chicken and a side of potatoes or prepared salad. They're playing "catch-up" now, which is always harder to do.

I think your analysis is correct. And I think it's a real open question whether they can catch up. They not only have to create awareness that they're different now, which is hard enough in itself. They also have to change some very entrenched perceptions, which is not the same thing. It's the difference between "what I know about Jewel" vs. "how I think about Jewel."

In the meantime they're giving significant square footage (between the buffets and the seating areas) over to something that doesn't look to the casual observer like it can be paying out.

Hi- When I went to the Jewel on Howard a few months ago on a Saturday evening, way more than 10% of the customers were keeping kosher. I have also been there on Friday afternoon when they were stocking up on groceries before sabbath began. The people that keep kosher in that neighborhood, I have been told have larger families than what is usually the norm.

NFriday wrote:Hi- When I went to the Jewel on Howard a few months ago on a Saturday evening, way more than 10% of the customers were keeping kosher. I have also been there on Friday afternoon when they were stocking up on groceries before sabbath began. The people that keep kosher in that neighborhood, I have been told have larger families than what is usually the norm.

YOu are correct that is the norm - at certain times yes the majority will be those who keep kosher - Saturday evening after the end of the Sabbath, Thursday and Friday as people prepare for the Sabbath, or the days before a Jewish holiday and the the weeks leading up to Passover - but if you gone on a Wednesday majority of the shoppers will be indifferent to the kosher food -

NFriday wrote:Hi- When I went to the Jewel on Howard a few months ago on a Saturday evening, way more than 10% of the customers were keeping kosher. I have also been there on Friday afternoon when they were stocking up on groceries before sabbath began. The people that keep kosher in that neighborhood, I have been told have larger families than what is usually the norm.

It's still a "store within a store" the Kosher features are mostly in addition to the regular store features, they aren't replacing anything. Judging by peak Jewish shopping hours (pre/post Sabbath) may not be the most effective for trend-spotting.

I'm curious to see how Mariano's addresses the market. Their Glenview store is a tad more Kosher-friendly than the norm, but far more limited than even the old Lincolnwood Dominick's (which was a poor competitor to Jewel). They're going to need to step up their game at the Touhy/McCormick location.