[where: 800 W. Monroe, Chicago, IL 60661]Slight change of plans from when we last noted Roundy's in Chicago expansion prospects. I agree the foot traffic in the downtown wouldn't seem to be enough to support a 50,000 square foot location. Rents must be expensive, and there just aren't that many people who live downtown. Grocery is a cut-throat industry, with very slim margins. To survive, a location must have lots of folks loading up their cars with a weeks worth of supplies. Chicago's downtown is crowded, but with tourists and office-drones, not families of four.
[Robert Mariano, chairman and CEO] said he has been approached to open a grocery store in the former Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building at 1 S. State, but he said he remains unsure whether the foot traffic would support a supermarket.
"Is the walk-in trade enough? I don't know yet," he said.
[snip] Roundy's previously announced two store openings in Chicago:
• • One will open late this year or in early 2009 at Monroe and Halsted streets.
• • The other will open at 1515 N. Halsted and serve as the anchor for the planned New City complex of retail shops, restaurants and residential buildings at Halsted and Clybourn.
Roundy's has also been reported to be in talks to open a store at Webster and Ashland.
Roundy's is a full-service supermarket, with most stores a minimum of 50,000 square feet.
"We think of ourselves as foodies," Mariano said, noting that Roundy's is working with prominent architect Lucien Lagrange to design its stores in part because Lagrange is a fellow foodie.
[From Chicago is Roundy's grocery chain's kind of town :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Business]
As an aside, this is fairly interesting:
Has Mr. Mariano been reading our blog?Mariano also repeated a concern voiced by Safeway CEO Steven Burd last week, that the federal government's policy of underwriting farmers' planting of corn to use in ethanol production is causing food prices to increase.
"It is bad fuel policy," he said. "It's great for farmers and ADM" (Archer Daniels Midland Co., the Decatur-based agribusiness giant).
The locations mentioned in the article are having leasing troubles. The developers are retooling their sites based on new demographics and market trends. This causes problems for the grocery stores as feasibilities were based on earlier information.
Roundy's was also looking into a site at 16th and Clark where there's plenty of new residential foot traffic, but no grocery store nearby. However, the city councilwoman is refusing to allow the project unless Roundy's commits to another site farther into the southern portion of her district. The demographics in this southern area would not support an upscale gourmet store like a Wild Oats or Whole Foods which is what Roundy's is trying to build.
The developer for the Ashland and Webster site has lost its funding so the lease agreement has been halted.