Kroger announces sale of 35 Chicago area Mariano's, Jewel-Osco stores
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- Kroger on Tuesday announced 35 stores in Illinois would be sold in the food giant's planned merger with rival Albertsons.
Most of the stores are Mariano's stores, but a few are Jewel-Osco stores. Kroger owns the Mariano's brand, while Albertsons owns Jewel-Osco.
A Kroger spokesperson said none of the stores will close. They would be divested to C&S Wholesale Grocers, the parent company of Piggly Wiggly and Grand Union supermarkets.
The following stores would be affected:
- Jewel-Osco — 12001 S. Pulaski Rd., Alsip
- Mariano's — 802 E. Northwest Hwy., Arlington Heights
- Mariano's — 144 S. Gary Ave., Bloomingdale
- Jewel-Osco — 87 W. 87th St., Chatham, Chicago
- Mariano's — 3350 N. Western Ave., Roscoe Village, Chicago
- Mariano's — 5353 N. Elston Ave., Jefferson Park, Chicago
- Mariano's — 1800 W. Lawrence Ave., Ravenswood, Chicago
- Mariano's — 5201 N. Sheridan Rd., Edgewater, Chicago
- Mariano's — 1500 N. Clybourn Ave., Ste 104, near Goose Island, Chicago
- Mariano's — 3030 N. Broadway, Ste. 100, East Lakeview, Chicago
- Mariano's — 3857 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Bronzeville, Chicago
- Mariano's — 105 Northwest Hwy., Crystal Lake
- Mariano's — 2999 Waukegan Rd., Deerfield
- Mariano's — 10 E. Golf Rd., Des Plaines
- Mariano's — 678 N. York St., Elmhurst
- Mariano's — 21001 S. LaGrange Rd., Frankfort
- Mariano's — 6655 Grand Ave., Gurnee
- Jewel-Osco — 1537 N. Larkin Ave., Joliet
- Mariano's — 1350 E. Route 22, Lake Zurich
- Mariano's — 345 W. Roosevelt Rd., Lombard
- Mariano's — 1300 S. Naper Blvd., Naperville
- Mariano's — 784 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook
- Mariano's — 11000 S. Cicero Ave., Oak Lawn
- Mariano's — 9504 142nd St., Orland Park
- Mariano's — 545 N. Hicks Rd., Palatine
- Jewel-Osco — 12803 S. Harlem Ave., Palos Heights
- Mariano's — 1900 S. Cumberland Ave., Park Ridge
- Mariano's — 950 Brook Forest Ave., Shorewood
- Mariano's — 3358 W. Touhy Ave., Skokie
- Mariano's — 1720 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills
- Mariano's — 3020 Wolf Rd., Westchester
- Mariano's — 4700 Gilbert Ave., Western Springs
- Mariano's — 150 W. 63rd St., Westmont
- Mariano's — 625 S. Main St., Wheaton
- Mariano's — 1822 Willow Rd., Winnetka
Kroger and Albertsons, two of the nation's largest grocers, agreed to merge in October 2022. But in February of this year, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger—saying the $24.6 billion deal could result in higher prices for millions of American consumers.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 835,000 grocery workers in the U.S. and Canada, also voted last year to oppose the merger, saying Kroger and Albertsons had failed to be transparent about the potential impact it would have on workers.
Kroger has promised to invest $500 million to lower prices as soon as the deal closes. It said it also invested in price reductions when it merged with Harris Teeter in 2014 and Roundy's in 2016. Kroger also promised to invest $1.3 billion in store improvements at Albertsons as part of the deal.
Last year, C&S Wholesale Grocers agreed to purchase 413 stores and eight distribution centers that Kroger and Albertsons agreed to divest in markets where the two companies' stores overlapped. C&S said it would honor all collective bargaining agreements with workers.
C&S is also set to acquire the Mariano's brand name.
Mariano's opened its first store in 2010 as a Chicago-area concept for Roundy's supermarket chain. Its name honors Bob Mariano, the former chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Roundy's who had previously worked his way from deli clerk to CEO of the now-defunct Dominick's Finer Foods chain.
Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. acquired Roundy's, and by extension Mariano's, in 2015.
Meanwhile, more recently, Mariano teamed up with Jay Owen—a descendant of Dominick's Finer Foods store chain founder Dominick DiMatteo—and former Dominick's executive Don Fitzgerald to create a new store concept, Dom's Fresh Kitchen & Market. The first of two Dom's stores opened in 2021.
In November of last year, Dom's later merged with the Foxtrot Market chain to into a new entity, Outfox Hospitality. In April of this year, Dom's Kitchen & Market and Foxtrot Market suddenly closed all their stores—with staffers losing their jobs mid-shift and customers being asked to leave on the spot.
Outfox Hospitality filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May—weeks after the stores all closed. Dom's and Outfox are not connected with Kroger, Albertsons, or the planned merger.