Area officials remain positive after Dominick’s leaves market

Officials in Joliet and Shorewood are remaining positive in the face of the closure of Dominick’s stores in their communities.

The stores at 2318 Essington Road in Joliet and 435 Weber Road in Romeoville are two of 57 Dominick’s stores across the Chicago area that closed their doors Dec. 28. Another 15 Dominick’s stores are being purchased by either Jewel-Osco or Mariano’s. Dominick’s parent company, Safeway, in October announced its plans to leave the Chicago market.

While there is no buyer yet for the Dominick’s stores in Joliet and Romeoville, Mariano’s has announced that it is purchasing the Dominick’s store at 950 Brook Forest Av. in Shorewood.

Shorewood Community Development Director Karen James said she is excited to see Mariano’s will take over the spot. That Dominick’s store opened in 2001.

She anticipated that Mariano’s will open in the next couple of months. The Dominick’s store is scheduled to remain open until Jan. 25.

“It has an excellent location with the intersection of Route 30 and Black Road,” James said. “They (Dominick’s) were really the first thing we had at that intersection. At one point, Dominick’s was one of our top 10 sales producers.”

According to Mariano’s website, the store’s pharmacy will open Jan. 26, with the store’s opening date expected to be announced soon. Mariano’s is owned by Wisconsin-based Roundy’s Inc., which operates 163 retail grocery stores and 101 pharmacies under the Pick ’n Save, Rainbow, Copps, Metro Market and Mariano’s names in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The former Dominick’s store on Essington Road in Joliet was built 15 to 18 years ago as part of a new commercial development, according to city officials. Kendall Jackson, Joliet’s planning and economic development director, said the building would be well suited if another grocery store moved into the space.

“It is a fairly good commercial corner with good traffic counts,” Jackson said. “I think that area could support another grocery store.”

But James Haller, Joliet’s community and economic development director, noted that “the grocery business is very, very competitive.”

“There are a lot of grocery opportunities for the consumer,” he said, pointing out the presence of other grocery stores such as Jewel, Aldi and Food For Less in the area.