Marianos to consolidate with Roundy's; execs to depart

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pseudo3d
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Re: Marianos to consolidate with Roundy's; execs to depart

Post by pseudo3d »

Biggest concern I have is seeing some real second-class Mariano's (especially acquired Dominick's), and a failure to understand the Chicago market. The second they start becoming regular Kroger stores in nice environments and good "bonuses", Mariano's is going to lose the edge it had.
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Re: Marianos to consolidate with Roundy's; execs to depart

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote: September 16th, 2018, 9:55 pm Biggest concern I have is seeing some real second-class Mariano's (especially acquired Dominick's), and a failure to understand the Chicago market. The second they start becoming regular Kroger stores in nice environments and good "bonuses", Mariano's is going to lose the edge it had.
Thing is Mariano's does very well, two key somethings that Kroger has constantly struggled with: operating stores in an urban environment, and having a strong prepared foods program. I am sure there are more examples but those are the two that stand out most to me.

I continue to wonder with some of the literal garbage that Kroger tries to pass off in its delis specifically pasta salad items and some breads that they offer: does anyone actually taste this stuff before they start to sell it?

I think we can easily admit that Kroger does a better job on things like private label and effective center store merchandising/turns than Mariano's ever did or could have done.

Oh well. Maybe it will work out.
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Re: Marianos to consolidate with Roundy's; execs to depart

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote: September 16th, 2018, 10:09 pm
pseudo3d wrote: September 16th, 2018, 9:55 pm Biggest concern I have is seeing some real second-class Mariano's (especially acquired Dominick's), and a failure to understand the Chicago market. The second they start becoming regular Kroger stores in nice environments and good "bonuses", Mariano's is going to lose the edge it had.
Thing is Mariano's does very well, two key somethings that Kroger has constantly struggled with: operating stores in an urban environment, and having a strong prepared foods program. I am sure there are more examples but those are the two that stand out most to me.

I continue to wonder with some of the literal garbage that Kroger tries to pass off in its delis specifically pasta salad items and some breads that they offer: does anyone actually taste this stuff before they start to sell it?

I think we can easily admit that Kroger does a better job on things like private label and effective center store merchandising/turns than Mariano's ever did or could have done.

Oh well. Maybe it will work out.
The Dominick's locations were acquired prior to the Kroger acquisition. Two things, IMO, contributed to the second-class feel of those stores: the locations are significantly smaller than the purpose-built Mariano's stores and Roundy's lacked the resources to remodel them into full-on, albeit smaller-footprint, stores.

Mariano's prepared foods are very good, although on my last visit the quality had slipped. They appeared to be struggling with unmotivated employees and cold/stale food at the New City (North and Clybourn) location when I visited and that's a new build. On the other hand, the Jewel-Osco down the street at Division and Clybourn (a former Dominick's) was the complete opposite, as was the Clark-Division Jewel. The Harwood Heights store (also built as a Mariano's) also seemed to slip in terms of maintenance and food quality from where it was on a previous visit. We won't even talk about the Park Ridge Mariano's. Park Ridge is a very nice inner-ring suburb, but the store hadn't been upgraded since being acquired from Dominick's. Funny thing is that store was built when Bob Mariano ran Dominick's. When new, it had a food court which was not brought back when it became Mariano's.

Bottom line is I see Kroger turning Mariano's into Kroger with an emphasis on Fresh Fare-type stores. It will be sad to watch and I hope I am wrong.
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