tjr wrote:

zoid wrote:]Frankly this was the best deal Oak Park was ever going to get for that space.

I'll admit I don't know the history of that space, but it does seem that an alternative would have been to say, "If you want access to Oak Park customers, you'll have to let us have all the sales taxes just as other businesses do. If that doesn't work for you, try opening up in Austin instead." And knowing how economic development works, there are no ways to verify that Dom's follows through on hiring and environmental practices, or more importantly, penalties for not complying.

They've said that to multiple offers who all walked away.
I understand this is far from ideal.

tjr wrote:

zoid wrote:]Frankly this was the best deal Oak Park was ever going to get for that space.

I'll admit I don't know the history of that space, but it does seem that an alternative would have been to say, "If you want access to Oak Park customers, you'll have to let us have all the sales taxes just as other businesses do. If that doesn't work for you, try opening up in Austin instead." And knowing how economic development works, there are no ways to verify that Dom's follows through on hiring and environmental practices, or more importantly, penalties for not complying.

TJR, the history of the space is that Marshall Fields closed its Oak Park store about 40 years ago. Since then, there has been a continual struggle to occupy the street level retail space. For several years there was a Chernin's shoe store in the space. After they left -- in the 90s, as a I recall - Borders opened a store there, which flourished in the pre-Amazon economy. But Borders closed that store 11 years ago, when it filed for bankruptcy & shuttered all of their stores. Since, then the space has been vacant for 11 years.

After 11 years of the store being empty, it's a no-brainer for the Village to opt for a deal that generates tax revenue for the Village at 50% of the tax rate rather than $0 in sales tax revenue. This is especially so because -- aside from the hiring & environmental stipulations built into the deal with Dom's -- having a thriving business in that space will likely increase the assessed property value of the space, as well as increasing foot traffic on Lake St., which is a benefit to commerce in general along that strip.

Despite the Village of Oak Park approving an agreement to split sales tax revenue, Dom’s Kitchen & Market will not be moving forward with its plans to open an Oak Park location in the historic Marshall Field and Company building on Lake Street.
https://www.oakpark.com/2022/09/30/doms ... reet-deal/

The Trib just published an article (bylined 10/5/22), reporting on the Village of Oak Park's approval of the sales tax rebate for the proposed Dom's Market in the Marshall Fields building. See https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ ... story.html

If you just read the Trib article, you would conclude that the project is moving forward. But, as Dave148 posted on 10/3/22, per Block Club, the Village has since announced that Dom's has pulled out of the deal. And, in fact, the Village's website posts a press release, dated 9/30/22, that the deal is dead. See https://www.oak-park.us/news/plans-1144 ... ng-forward

Very confused reporting by the Trib.

masha wrote:The Trib just published an article (bylined 10/5/22), reporting on the Village of Oak Park's approval of the sales tax rebate for the proposed Dom's Market in the Marshall Fields building. See https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ ... story.html

If you just read the Trib article, you would conclude that the project is moving forward. But, as Dave148 posted on 10/3/22, per Block Club, the Village has since announced that Dom's has pulled out of the deal. And, in fact, the Village's website posts a press release, dated 9/30/22, that the deal is dead. See https://www.oak-park.us/news/plans-1144 ... ng-forward

Very confused reporting by the Trib.

I think it speaks to the overall editorial quality at the Trib, which has fallen off a cliff over the past several years.

As for the market itself, there seems to be a black cloud of odd occurrences perpetually hovering over them. Coincidence? Unlikely.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

masha wrote:The Trib just published an article (bylined 10/5/22), reporting on the Village of Oak Park's approval of the sales tax rebate for the proposed Dom's Market in the Marshall Fields building. See https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ ... story.html

If you just read the Trib article, you would conclude that the project is moving forward. But, as Dave148 posted on 10/3/22, per Block Club, the Village has since announced that Dom's has pulled out of the deal. And, in fact, the Village's website posts a press release, dated 9/30/22, that the deal is dead. See https://www.oak-park.us/news/plans-1144 ... ng-forward

Very confused reporting by the Trib.

I think it speaks to the overall editorial quality at the Trib, which has fallen off a cliff over the past several years.

As for the market itself, there seems to be a black cloud of odd occurrences perpetually hovering over them. Coincidence? Unlikely.

=R=

Looking more closely at the Trib article, I note that it's reprinted from the Pioneer Press and written by a freelancer. But, that just reinforces the decline in the Trib's editorial quality. Once upon a time, they'd have staff journalists reporting on business news from the 'burbs, especially when it involves a business with a presence in the City.

The day that Alden closed on the Tribune purchase, we cancelled our subscription. Certainly not sorry that we did so.

Masha wrote:

Looking more closely at the Trib article, I note that it's reprinted from the Pioneer Press and written by a freelancer. But, that just reinforces the decline in the Trib's editorial quality. Once upon a time, they'd have staff journalists reporting on business news from the 'burbs, especially when it involves a business with a presence in the City.

and lougord99 wrote:

The day that Alden closed on the Tribune purchase, we cancelled our subscription. Certainly not sorry that we did so.

First an admission of guilt -- despite the temptation to follow lougord99's example we continued our Trib subscription. [We also continue a paper subscription to the Financial Times (London) for an international perspective.] The main reason is Wife Number One and I are so addicted to the local paper delivered to our door that we couldn't give it up. [Now I better understand how drug dealers operate.] It also hurts to know our money is going to Alden.

All the stated criticisms are valid. I could easily add to them. The Trib is only a shadow of what it once was.

However, there are a few modest offsetting factors. Food writers such as Nick Kindelsperger and Louisa Chu soldier on and we are happy to support them.

The editorial page is actually better in some ways! As part of the brutal cost cutting, several bat-shit editorial writers are gone. Arts critic Chris Jones is now doing double duty as he has also become the editorial page editor. No doubt there are constraints from above, but the editorial page has returned to a fairly rational center right position which it once had. I often disagree, but can calmly listen to their position. Sometimes they make good points.

It's a small list, but it's something.

George R wrote:The editorial page is actually better in some ways! As part of the brutal cost cutting, several bat-shit editorial writers are gone.

Actually, at least one of them died around that time. I find the current editorial stance pretty bland. But one person's bat shit is another person's fertilizer.

I live in a 57 unit condo building in Evanston, and we used to have at least five people in the building subscribe to the Chicago Tribune. A few months ago when I had to go down to the lobby early in the morning, there was exactly one Chicago Tribune sitting there. At least the Sun Times was recently purchased by a nonprofit. Doesn't Chicago Public Radio own them now?

NFriday wrote:At least the Sun Times was recently purchased by a nonprofit. Doesn't Chicago Public Radio own them now?

Chicago Public Media, which owns WBEZ owns the Sun Times.

Dom's Kitchen & Market is trying to finalize a deal to bring its high-end grocery story to Fulton Market. A lease could be signed in the next couple weeks, a company executive said.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/10/13 ... ng-a-deal/

Dom’s Kitchen & Market, a small-footprint grocery store from Bob Mariano, opened its second location Tuesday in Old Town

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/11/01 ... 5-by-2025/

Dom’s Kitchen & Market, the upscale, downsized Chicago grocer, plans to open a store in a former River North Whole Foods next summer.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Dave148 wrote:

Dom’s Kitchen & Market, the upscale, downsized Chicago grocer, plans to open a store in a former River North Whole Foods next summer.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

It's so not impressive.

I don't get it at all.

pairs4life wrote:It's so not impressive.

I don't get it at all.

Have you been to a Dom's? If so, please give details...

i've been to the dom's market at the corner of halsted and diversey and i was quite impressed. this is not the place to go if you're on a really tight food budget, as there are many delicious foods to tempt you to overspend; or to stock up on toilet paper and a giant bag of potatoes.....but i was expecting higher than average prices for foods that i buy elsewhere, like vegetables and fruits, and since i'm very aware of the price points for these items, i saw that they were about the same as i'd pay at marianos and fresh farms. a good selection of organic produce was available and that's what i mostly buy. as bob himself says, this isnt an all encompassing grocery store. they had some gorgeous pastries, an impressive liquor section, including local vodka from a Black company here in chicago (and the 2 owners were handing out free samples that day). some good looking breads and a meat counter were the other areas that made a good impression on me. some prepared entree salads seemed competitively priced. i will definitely be going back. i happened to be walking from my car a few blocks away to the Landmark Theater down the block, but i saw the parking lot was quite small. that might be a concern if i was planning to park and shop. they have a security person watching parkers to make sure they are shoppers. again- not a full service store, but a well stocked one for higher end items.

tjr wrote:Have you been to a Dom's? If so, please give details...

I've been to the Diversey / Halsted Dom's a few times and am quite impressed. Service, space, openness, various seating options for the prepared food kiosks, quality of product, and, most of all, their ability to huck $$ from the upscale denizens of the neighborhood.

Seems to me there is a significant upcharge on everything from Dial soap to prime meat. Which brings me to the main reason I might go to Dom's, relatively easy access to Bonci pizza, which I enjoy. Parking in the minuscule lot is easier than the Sangamon shop.

(now I'm just waiting for someone to post that Bonci is no longer at Dom's )

Sounds like a more limited version of a Sunset or Heinen's, worth going for a few things you like and know they have but not for complete shopping.

tjr wrote:Sounds like a more limited version of a Sunset or Heinen's, worth going for a few things you like and know they have but not for complete shopping.

My typical Sunset order includes:
Rapa scrapple
Taylor pork roll
Romanian Kosher kishke
Romanian Kosher dry salami
Maille cornichon
Empire schmaltz

tjr wrote:Sounds like a more limited version of a Sunset or Heinen's, worth going for a few things you like and know they have but not for complete shopping.

What can’t you get at Sunset ?

lougord99 wrote:What can’t you get at Sunset ?

Cheap prices
Pool chlorine (I often do my main shopping at Woodman's for that reason, in summer anyway)

Evil Ronnie wrote:My typical Sunset order includes:
Rapa scrapple
Taylor pork roll
Romanian Kosher kishke
Romanian Kosher dry salami
Maille cornichon
Empire schmaltz

I don't see milk or TP on that list...

tjr wrote:

lougord99 wrote:What can’t you get at Sunset ?

Cheap prices
Pool chlorine (I often do my main shopping at Woodman's for that reason, in summer anyway)

Evil Ronnie wrote:My typical Sunset order includes:
Rapa scrapple
Taylor pork roll
Romanian Kosher kishke
Romanian Kosher dry salami
Maille cornichon
Empire schmaltz

I don't see milk or TP on that list...

Ha!
Woodman’s:
Gasoline
Noon Hour pickled herring
White Lily Flour, Poppy Seed paste (muun) almond paste…
Bergen’s Missouri ham, city and country, in a variety of configurations.
Wisconsin cheeses

Chicago-based grocery startups Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market, which looked to carve a niche in Chicago’s competitive grocery market with upscale, small-format stores, will merge.

The merged companies will be helmed by Foxtrot CEO Liz Williams under a new entity, Outfox Hospitality. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, the companies said in a news release Monday. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Foxtrot has 15 stores in Chicago and another 17 across D.C., Dallas and Austin. Dom’s, which is also known for its upscale, downsized concept, has two Chicago stores, one in Lincoln Park and one in Old Town. The company announced plans in September to open a third location in River North next summer.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... SnFuQSnQoc

Andersonville Small Businesses Team Up To Stop Foxtrot From Opening In Neighborhood

https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/12/05 ... ghborhood/

Dom’s Kitchen & Market looks to Vernon Hills as first suburban location

https://www.dailyherald.com/20231215/bu ... -location/

From the article:

“There used to be something here in Chicago that was called customer loyalty. Those days are long, long gone. People shop around,” Mike Mallon, consultant and broker for Dom’s told village officials during a recent presentation.

Not sure what this has to do with the price of tea in China as the saying goes. I think if I were on the village board I would have responded, "There used to be something here in Chicago that was called customer service. Those days are long, long gone."

Anyhoo, the artist's rendering looks sorta like dining in, shockingly enough, the VH Mariano's. TIL: that was the second Marianos. Still among the nicer ones in the north. Get too close to cheeseland and they're pretty much indistinguishable from PickNSaves.

Wow.

Foxtrot, Dom’s Kitchen & Market Closing All Locations

Five months after Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market merged, the new company appears headed to bankruptcy and all its stores in Illinois, Texas, and the D.C. area are closing on Tuesday, April 23...

...Corporate workers were informed Tuesday morning via a conference call with management that the stores would be closing by noon. Store workers were left in the dark and instructed not to talk to customers about the matter. Their emotions ranged from frustration to fear about losing their jobs. Dom’s locations in Lincoln Park and Old Town closed Tuesday morning, with one account claiming staff had to kick out Lincoln Park shoppers to close the store.

Feel for the employees, absolutely zero notice.

incite wrote:Wow.

Foxtrot, Dom’s Kitchen & Market Closing All Locations

Five months after Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market merged, the new company appears headed to bankruptcy and all its stores in Illinois, Texas, and the D.C. area are closing on Tuesday, April 23...

...Corporate workers were informed Tuesday morning via a conference call with management that the stores would be closing by noon. Store workers were left in the dark and instructed not to talk to customers about the matter. Their emotions ranged from frustration to fear about losing their jobs. Dom’s locations in Lincoln Park and Old Town closed Tuesday morning, with one account claiming staff had to kick out Lincoln Park shoppers to close the store.

ronnie_suburban wrote:As for the market itself, there seems to be a black cloud of odd occurrences perpetually hovering over them. Coincidence? Unlikely.

Once a scumbag, always a scumbag . . . I guess.

=R=