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Does anyone know anything about a new Mariano's store that is supposed to open at the corner of Waukegan Road and Golf Road in Morton Grove? This rumor has been circulating for awhile but I don't see any reference to it on the Mariano's website. Is this just wishful thinking or is there substance behind the rumor?

The rumor came from a restaurant owner in Skokie but we are not sure if he had it straight because he kept referring to "Mario's". It was clear from some of the details that he meant Mariano's and he admitted and corrected himself when we asked about the discrepancy.

Any info is appreciated!

(subject heading edited to reflect that the rumored store might be in glenview, not morton grove)
--Joy

First google result for "mariano's waukegan golf":

Dealer Seeks Tax Rebate For Moving

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Thanks very much for that info! We missed it. We were googling with "Morton Grove" in the search criteria and did not find that article. It is Glenview, not Morton Grove --the other side of the street.

Does anyone know how grocery chains calculate how close together their stores should be?

I ask because Mariano's is also supposedly coming to Park Ridge, at Touhy & Cumberland avenues. Since there is so little retail within the city limits, I usually have to travel a bit far afield to find what I'm looking for, and a Mariano's at Golf and Waukegan would definitely be within my routine travel path.

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This is off topic, but your question reminds me that in the strip mall at Division and Clybourn, where there's a large Dominick's, there's a Starbucks a door or two to the west of the Dominick's...and there's a Starbucks a door or two to the east of the Dominick's. I'm not sure if this is because they determined there is sufficient demand, or because they determined that people won't walk more than twenty feet from their cars to go to a Starbucks!

But actually it occurs to me it might not be off topic when it comes to grocery chains. The reason Starbucks has two locations so absurdly close may be not that demand requires it, but that they don't want the space on the other side of the Dominick's going to Caribou or Intelligentsia. The reason there might be two Jewels close together is not that Jewel has determined there are that many Jewel customers, but that Jewel doesn't want Dominick's coming in. Essentially, they're willing to trade off some per-store revenue in return for increased market share. Anyway, you ask an interesting question that I'd like to know the answer to as well.

I don't know the answer to the supermarket question, other than they do a lot of demographic and economic modeling, but I'd point out that vs. Starbucks, building a supermarket is a huge investment compared to leasing a store and putting in a couple of brewers. So Starbucks can much more easily grab retail space to satisfy impulsivity or keep competitors out than a Jewel can build a store just to keep Dominick's out.

Hi guys, I actually used to do site & market strategy for a number of years - not for a grocery store but a chain drugstore. (You can probably figure out which one.) While I certainly can't speak for any other retailer, I can tell you that our site selection process was a pretty scientific measure of supply and demand and resulting sales and profit, but the concept of "we should take it just so they can't" was not a part of the equation. Retailers like grocery stores and drugstores run on such razor thin margins that it's really not good business sense to open a loss leader (or even just a relatively weak location) just to build share and keep the competition out. It's funny, because our real estate guys would try to use that argument from time to time ("well, the so-&-so developer is on our heels - if we don't take it, they definitely will") but it really never held any water. If a site couldn't meet the financial standards for a new location, squeezing out the competition was never a valid reason to get the deal through.

That said, having followed Starbucks' retail expansion over the years, their metrics and standards were obviously a bit different, and like I said, every retailer does it a bit differently.

So, PitaChip, if you worked for the retailer I think you worked for, I've been curious for years why there's a C*S on the northwest corner of Foster and Higgins AND a C*S on the southeast corner of Foster and Higgins.

A friend who lives near-by has speculated that it's a very spacious intersection, and the old-ish population of the area can't get across one or another street quickly enough so it's worth keeping both stores open. Granted, one was a new build-out and one was a legacy Osco; also one is open 24 hours and one isn't. Both stores have been open the better part of a decade now, but inquiring minds want to know . . . .

Giovanna

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There has been some interesting posts on the roundy's finance board on yahoo about locations:
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/mb/rndy

According to a lawyer pal who knows the subject intimately, a lot of CVS location-expansion research has to do with how close they can get to an existing Walgreen's (and vice versa). I now have three Walgreen's within walking distance from where I live - and two CVS stores. (Interestingly, I purchase all of my 'scrips at Target, which must drive them crazy. )

Drive down Dempster west of McCormick sometime, and count the combined stores, bothe existing and under construction. You will run out of fingers in a hurry!

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This does almost sound like defensive strategy--like, "our store sales in that location may not set the world on fire, but we'll take some away from Walgreen's and head off their world domination and our complete destruction."

As to Walgreens, i was told by a local lawyer/development person that their stratedgy in several areas were to saturate the area driving out locals/higher cost places and then shut down some of the stores in the saturation area. So that what remains are the walgreens.

A bit of hate here - one of the medications my wife needed when pregnant is delivered as a wax block and then is supposed to be melted into caplets. Where we used to live this is a no-brainer, in Wisconsin this is considered "manufacturing" and requires a major surcharge per pill. The only pharmacy with a manufacturing licence in the area was a walgreens, and not in a part of town that I would willingly go into. The cost difference was $100 in the old state vs. close to $10k locally. We were lucky to be referred to a woman's clinic 90 miles away that did it at their cost ($500 factoring in the manufacturing license costs)

Regarding the new Mariano's project that is being considered for the old Avon warehouse site on Waukegan Road north of Golf Road, there is a LOT of info on the Glenview village website at this linkthat indicates that the project is still alive and slowly moving forward.

The project is called the “Glen Gate Shopping Center/Residential, 1601 Overlook Drive”
There will be a meeting of the Board of Trustees April 3 at 7:30 p.m. According to the website, "the Board of Trustees will consider the application for redevelopment of the former Avon site at the corner of Golf/Waukegan Road. The Board of Trustees will be considering recommendations from the Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. The Board of Trustees will also be considering TIF ordinances for the area as well."

Which reminds all of us in these neighborhoods about how important it is to vote in the upcoming elections!

Today's Tribune reports that the Glenview trustees have approved the TIF district for Mariano's, apartment complex, bank and other retail space. Construction is scheduled for 2014.

The last article I read on Mariano's on Golf and Waukegan (maybe a couple of months ago?) also noted that a Mariano's was supposed to come to another site in Glenview - I'm thinking somewhere near Pfingsten and Waukegan. I can't find any reference to this anymore, though, does anyone know if that isn't going to happen or did I just make it up? I must have seen it in the Glenview Lantern, as that free weekly is pretty much my only source of local news, but I can't locate this information anywhere. I remember thinking how strange it was to think there would be two Mariano's so close to each other. Thanks!

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Pfingsten and Waukegan don't cross and are about a mile or so apart.

The rumors I'd heard were for Willow and Sanders, where there is a large lot under the start of development next to Astellas HQ... But I haven't heard anything about that location in probably a year... And, it's Northbrook.

[edited] Maybe it isn't Northbrook, and it is Glenview. -- the borders are rather wiggly.

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Oops, sorry, you're right, I meant Pfingsten and Willow and clearly mis-wrote that. And now that I have found a second source for my information (finally!), I can remember that you're also right about Sanders and Willow at the old Culligan's HQ. However, my second source also calls it a Glenview site (I would have guessed Northbrook as well). This article is from the Sun-Times, February 27, 2013, called "Glenview A Hit with Developers." Anyway, that was the most recent article I could find. I'm at least glad to know I didn't make it up, but it still seems strange to me to have two Mariano's so close to one another, after having none in the area for some time. Thanks for the clarifications.

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“First we eat, then we do everything else.” ― M.F.K. Fisher