The two-level Dominick's at Sheffield and Fullerton would make a fantastic Tower Records.

riddlemay wrote:The two-level Dominick's at Sheffield and Fullerton would make a fantastic Tower Records.

I'm holding out for a resurrected Wax Trax.

riddlemay wrote:The two-level Dominick's at Sheffield and Fullerton would make a fantastic Tower Records.

NFriday wrote:Hi= Unfortunately I could not read most of Crain's article, but from what I have read so far, Safeway has already sold some of the 71 stores, and they are actively looking for buyers for the rest of the stores. If they are planning on closing the stores in early 2014 though. this only gives them three months to find buyers for the rest of the stores. It sounds like Safeway as a whole made money this year, but Dominick's lost $16.7 million in the last quarter. I am just curious how the new Jewel is doing? Has anybody heard?

I know Dominick's got rid of the deal match program recently, and their $5 Friday program, which you used to be able to extend through Sunday on J4U, is only good on Friday now.

It would be nice if Meijer's bought some of the stores. I happen to like Meijer's but the closest one to me takes me at least 25 minutes to drive to.

Walmart did in Dominick's, but I can't see myself doing most of my shopping there. The closest Walmart is a 20=25 minute drive from where I live in Evanston. I don't care for Walmart anyway.

Mariano's (and Wal-Mart) will be at Touhy/McCormick by mid-2014.

riddlemay wrote:The two-level Dominick's at Sheffield and Fullerton would make a fantastic Tower Records.

Or perhaps Borders Books!

Hi- They have not even started work on the Touhy Mariano's yet, and I am not sure if they have started work on the Walmart right down the street from there.

It was announced on the news at 5:00, that Jewel is buying four of the Dominick's stores. They are taking over the Glenview and Homer Glen stores, and two stores in Chicago. I believe one of the stores is on Clybourn and the other store is on Canal.

I think a Mariano's would do good in Evanston on Green Bay where Dominick's is currently. I am not sure how well they would do at Dempster and Dodge. A Meijer's would do better at that location. Mariano's would also do good in downtown Northfield too.

It sounds like Dominick's is going to try to sell the other stores, but if they can't sell them soon, they will just close them, and cut their losses. I know that if the Dempster/Dodge location does not find a new owner, that shopping center is going to be dead. That will mean that over half the shopping center there will be vacant. Thanks, Nancy

I just heard a rumor that Dominick's is closing ALL their Chicago stores.

Darren72 wrote:According to Crain's, some of the stores have already been sold.

The store on Lake in Oak Park would be perfect for an Aldi. Aldi left OP not too long ago and has been shopping for a new location ever since.
I'm not optimistic enough to hope for a Caputo's or Mariano's.

I am a bit bummed about this. The Vernon Hills Dominick's was in bad shape before it closed, but the ones in Mundelein and Buffalo Grove are nice, and I'll be sorry to see them go.

Goodbye, good luck and good riddance.

=R=

I help out an old timer by the Dominick's by Belmont and Cumberland. That was the go to store he could walk to since he can't drive. Hopefully another store will pick that one up in short order.

Man, how the chain has morphed from Dominick DiMatteo's vision to present...

When the store at Crawford & Oakton in Skokie took over from Kroger in about 1972, we were thrilled because there were only a few Dominick's at that time and they had a great rep for customer service. I got my first regular job there on my 16th birthday in 1973, and saw what hard work was like, for $2.15/hr PLUS $7.50/mo to the Retail Clerks Union!

At least at our store, there was a distinct corporate structure in place from store manager to grocery manager to front-end boss, but everybody could do everybody's job in a pinch. As a bagger, if I wasn't going full speed during Saturday rush, the store manager would push me aside and HE'D start bagging like a maniac, because of the work ethic thing and that's no doubt where he had started himself. The stock guys would compete as to who could put up stock fastest with the nicest-looking facings & displays. Produce the same way. Customers would see these insane workers and come back, again & again. Our tiny store had only 6 checkout aisles & had to be near the top grosser per square foot in the chain. The higherups had met DiMatteo and knew what he wanted--a highly efficient chain store with the feel of a neighborhood market.

So what happened? Certainly increased competition, then the Safeway buyout did them absolutely no favors. Stupid Safeway Select brand. (What happened to Heritage House?!) Corporate decision to confuse customers by changing aisles & product placement multiple times a year was ridiculous. Then those self-checkout kiosks--I know Dominick's wasn't the only one, but still...

Where is Mariano's in this process now? I shop at the one in Vernon Hills, and I look around the interior and say, with 1973 vision...'Xanadu'.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Goodbye, good luck and good riddance.

=R=

That's what we said about Fox and Obel...if you live in Streeterville east of Fairbanks, we'll be back to Treasure Island as the only game in town within quick walking distance. Hopefully someone will pick up the E. Grand location. Or we'll be driving to Whole Foods or crossing the Chicago River to Mariano's.

jnm123 wrote:Man, how the chain has morphed from Dominick DiMatteo's vision to present...

When the store at Crawford & Oakton in Skokie took over from Kroger in about 1972, we were thrilled because there were only a few Dominick's at that time and they had a great rep for customer service. I got my first regular job there on my 16th birthday in 1973, and saw what hard work was like, for $2.15/hr PLUS $7.50/mo to the Retail Clerks Union!

At least at our store, there was a distinct corporate structure in place from store manager to grocery manager to front-end boss, but everybody could do everybody's job in a pinch. As a bagger, if I wasn't going full speed during Saturday rush, the store manager would push me aside and HE'D start bagging like a maniac, because of the work ethic thing and that's no doubt where he had started himself. The stock guys would compete as to who could put up stock fastest with the nicest-looking facings & displays. Produce the same way. Customers would see these insane workers and come back, again & again. Our tiny store had only 6 checkout aisles & had to be near the top grosser per square foot in the chain. The higherups had met DiMatteo and knew what he wanted--a highly efficient chain store with the feel of a neighborhood market.

So what happened? Certainly increased competition, then the Safeway buyout did them absolutely no favors. Stupid Safeway Select brand. (What happened to Heritage House?!) Corporate decision to confuse customers by changing aisles & product placement multiple times a year was ridiculous. Then those self-checkout kiosks--I know Dominick's wasn't the only one, but still...

Where is Mariano's in this process now? I shop at the one in Vernon Hills, and I look around the interior and say, with 1973 vision...'Xanadu'.

Everything about the business has changed since 1973. When you're getting competition from Wal-Mart and Target both on price and convenience, it's hard to compete without an angle. As for Dominick's, they never bothered to distinguish themselves. The stores appear to be darker and less inviting and they're seemingly understaffed by comparison to Jewel. Mariano's is the new model, competing effectively on pricing and offering more perceived value (their baked goods, produce and even flowers are more than competitively priced and are better than other grocers).

A brand new Mariano's is opening soon in Wheaton and would have given Dominicks a run for their money. Dominicks is like a ghost town when I go in it and its such a big store. I'm not sure how Wheaton could support the new Marianos, two Jewels, a Dominicks, a Whole Foods, Aldi, and Ultra in close proximity not to mention Trader Joes and a new Fresh Market slated to open a couple miles east on Roosevelt Rd. Something was bound to happen.

I've touched on some of these things before, probably in this thread. We're having a grocery store renaissance in the Chicago area, or if that's not the right way to describe it; our food shopping options are as good/better than I've ever seen. What I see is not so much Dominick's (or Jewel) losing market share to Target/Walmart (although some to Costco/Sam's) is losing market share to Fresh Farms, Mariano's, Plum*, Whole Foods, Caputo's, etc.

The grocery business in Chicago would, I think, make for an interesting MBA project. Given the low margins, you would assume the market would favor heavily capitalized, large chains. Instead, we have seen in the last 10 or so years, the build up/out of small chains like Caputo's and even singular stores like the expanded A&G. It is obvious to nearly every one around this forum that Fresh Farms is SO much of a better store than any Dominick's. And if the others are not as good as Fresh Farms, they're still a lot better than Dominick's.

On top of that, there's heavy pressure from ethnic places; from Bobak's and Andy's to Jimenez, Cermak Produce, etc., these compete as full service stores too.

Safeway really just relied on two factors: Dominick's long history in Chicago--we were all either Dominick's families or Jewel families once, like Cubs and Sox, right*--and perceived strong, sometimes monopoly-ish locations. The other places relied on other things like selection and quality. Who knew!

*Plum is a sponsor of the Local Beet

**Not to hijack the thread, but there's also a lesson her for the Rickett's and the Cubs.

And remember that this has been going on for some time: there used to be a lot more Dominick'ses.
The closest to me have been long gone: Rand and Central became a Garden Fresh, then was torn down for a new health club. Rand just south of Willow was vacant for many years (Safeway held the lease to keep competition out), and a new store is opening there imminently, if not already open. Greenwood and Ballard is now a "Super Tony's."

My shopping habits have definitely changed over the years. When I moved to Mount Prospect, the Jewel at Randhurst and the above Rand/Central location were equidistant, and I'd prefer the Jewel. When Garden Fresh opened up, I did a lot more of my shopping there, except for dry goods, canned goods, etc. When Mariano's opened, we were going there more regularly... but lately we've been slipping back to Jewel. Have they really improved that much? I don't know, but it's a 10-minute shorter trip than Mariano's.

Vital Information wrote:**Not to hijack the thread, but there's also a lesson here for the Rickett's and the Cubs.

If I can guess at your meaning, it would be, "Don't try to make your customer experience just like the one at every other [supermarket/ballpark]; discover what you uniquely have to offer, and double down on it."

The beginning of the end of Dominicks started a long time ago when they decided to replace Dominicks branded products with "Safeway Select". There was a mass outcry and the exodus began. Dominick's was never the same after that.

Here is a story involving Safeway taking over a family run grocery chain in Philadelphia that is a mirror image of what happened here.
Angry customers register disfavor Safeway, Genuardi's parent, posted a huge loss for 2002. The unhappy patrons are not only around Philadelphia.

riddlemay wrote:

Vital Information wrote:**Not to hijack the thread, but there's also a lesson here for the Rickett's and the Cubs.

If I can guess at your meaning, it would be, "Don't try to make your customer experience just like the one at every other [supermarket/ballpark]; discover what you uniquely have to offer, and double down on it."

Actually, no.

It's don't think because someone has happily consumed your product/service for 75 years, they'll keep on doing it again next year. For the record, I think the Rickett's don't realize how many less Cubs fans will be around by the time they "contend."

Vital Information wrote:For the record, I think the Rickett's don't realize how many less Cubs fans will be around by the time they "contend."

You hijacked it While I've stopped going to the games until they do contend, I'm still a fan and so are many youngsters who don't know any better but to enjoy a day at the old ballpark. Who else are the youth going to root for? Its not like there's a renaissance in White Sox baseball, they have problem filling half the park on a nice summer night, not to mention a bad team and farm system. While attendance has gone down (still 12th overall) that's bc the team's been blunt in saying it's a rebuilding process. Plenty will be back when/if they start winning or at the very least put some all stars out there. Its not like the Rays are relocating to Andersonville. I remember the Blackhawks being an afterthought around town, then they started winning. In a good sports town, it cures everything.

Artie wrote:The beginning of the end of Dominicks started a long time ago when they decided to replace Dominicks branded products with "Safeway Select". There was a mass outcry and the exodus began. Dominick's was never the same after that.

Here is a story involving Safeway taking over a family run grocery chain in Philadelphia that is a mirror image of what happened here.
Angry customers register disfavor Safeway, Genuardi's parent, posted a huge loss for 2002. The unhappy patrons are not only around Philadelphia.

My beginning of the end of Dominick's started when I saw the prices of their moldy meats. Continuously. (That store on Kimball and Belmont was hilarious!)
They were competitive for prices of cereal when on sale. Other than that, since the execs ran the place into the ground, they got what was coming to them. What's funny is that I'd bet all the execs that ran the place into the ground will probably wind up with BETTER jobs at some other company - which happens far more often than I would care to think about. Must be a pretty nice club to be a part of: ruin one place, get a better job, ruin that place, repeat.

Vital Information wrote:

riddlemay wrote:

Vital Information wrote:**Not to hijack the thread, but there's also a lesson here for the Rickett's and the Cubs.

If I can guess at your meaning, it would be, "Don't try to make your customer experience just like the one at every other [supermarket/ballpark]; discover what you uniquely have to offer, and double down on it."

Actually, no.

It's don't think because someone has happily consumed your product/service for 75 years, they'll keep on doing it again next year. For the record, I think the Rickett's don't realize how many less Cubs fans will be around by the time they "contend."

Thanks for the clarification.

Cincinnati-based Kroger Inc. has indicated an interest in at least 15 Dominick's locations, real estate sources with knowledge of the matter say. Kroger intends to put its Food 4 Less banner, already a presence with 17 sites in the suburbs and Chicago, on the stores. A Kroger spokesman did not return a phone call immediately.

Meanwhile, sources speaking on the condition of anonymity say that Roundy's Inc. of Milwaukee, the owner of a dozen Mariano's stores in metro Chicago — with another seven under construction — has expressed interest in 20 Dominick's. More than a year ago, the sources say, Roundy's offered to buy 29 local stores but Safeway rejected the bid as inadequate. A Roundy's spokeswoman declined to comment beyond a statement that notes, in part, a focus on expanding "Mariano's banner in Chicago."

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... permarkets

The Chicago Tribune has the best coverage about the Dominick's closing in the Friday (October 11, 2013) edition. Besides a very good round-up of facts, there is John Kass' column and Mary Schmich's column. The coverage starts on the front page.

Here are some things that I learned:

Dominick's does not own most of its stores. They lease the buildings. (This is pretty common. Walgreen's for example don't own most of their stores either.) Only about 15 to 20 of the buildings are owned by Safeway.

As recently at the 1990s, Jewel and Dominick's controlled two thirds of the Chicago area market. Now, Jewel has 29.1 percent market share, Wal-Mart 9.4 percent, Dominick's 8.7 percent, Costco 7.3 percent.

Four Safeway-owned Dominick's stores were or are being sold to Jewel-Osco:
1340 S. Canal St.
2550 N. Clybourn Ave.
14200 S. Bell Road Homer Glen
1340 Patriot Blvd. Glenview

According to the trib story, "During a previous attempt to sell its Dominick's stores, the winning bidder could not reach an agreement with union members." There are apparently 6,600 "mostly unionized" employees that are operating on a contract that expired at the end of 2012.

Exiting Dominick's in the Chicago area will "save" Safeway between $400 million and $450 million which will be used for stock buy-backs and investing in other growth opportunities. But leaving the Chicago market will also cost up to an estimated $375 million in pension withdrawal liability paid over 20 years.

There is a lot more including some interesting history. And did you know that grocery stores operate on a 1 to 2 percent profit margin?

Joy wrote:The Chicago Tribune
There is a lot more including some interesting history. And did you know that grocery stores operate on a 1 to 2 percent profit margin?

That has always been the case and you have to realize that they have fairly enormous sales compared to most retail establishments. Costco doesn't even make 1% on sales, more than 2/3 of its profit comes from memberships.

seebee wrote:My beginning of the end of Dominick's started when I saw the prices of their moldy meats.

For me, it was when they changed their produce managers' bonus structure to reward for elimination of waste instead of amount of sales. You all know what happened to the quality of selection after that. This and other produce atrocities were discussed in this thread, Dominick's "Locally Grown" Campaign: Nonsense, which was started by Kennyz back in 2009.

=R=

Since I've moved out to the 'burbs, I've mostly stopped going to Jewel and Dominick's. Mostly I go to Meijer and Sam's Club now. One thing I will miss about Dominick's is that they carried Martin's Potato Rolls. Those are some good buns.

Jim-Bob wrote:One thing I will miss about Dominick's is that they carried Martin's Potato Rolls. Those are some good buns.

Fresh Farms (at least the Niles store) carries them in their non-house baked bread department near the Pepperege Farm and Butternut breads.

stevez wrote:

Jim-Bob wrote:One thing I will miss about Dominick's is that they carried Martin's Potato Rolls. Those are some good buns.

Fresh Farms (at least the Niles store) carries them in their non-house baked bread department near the Pepperege Farm and Butternut breads.

http://potatorolls.com/store-locator/