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Dominick's
Dominick's was a Chicago-area grocery store chain and subsidiary of Safeway Inc. Dominick's distribution center was located in Northlake, Illinois, while its management offices were located in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Dominick DiMatteo, born in Sicily, founded the chain in 1918. The second Dominick's opened in 1934. In 1950, the DiMatteos opened their first supermarket, a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m2) store.
By 1968, the chain had reached 19 stores. The family elected to sell their store to the Cleveland company Fisher Foods. The DiMatteos continued to operate the chain under the financial backing of Fisher Foods. Under Fisher, Dominick's acquired 24 stores plus a 462,000-square-foot distribution center in Northlake from Kroger in two separate transactions in 1970. The new acquisitions from Kroger increased the number of stores to 45. The Northlake distribution center, which was originally built by Kroger in 1961, was used by Dominick's until the chain was closed in 2014.
By the 1980s, the family had become unhappy with the agreement and bought back the chain in 1981 for $100 million. The DiMatteos continued to expand and had acquired 4 stores from Kohl's and 16 stores from Eagle in 1982 and 1985 respectively.
In 1986, Dominick's experimented with a discount grocery store concept called Jerry's Deep Discount Centers with just 3 units, but the experiment was terminated after a few months of operation.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, under the direction of Bob Mariano, Dominick's experimented with new large "food and drug" combo stores. Dominick's was one of the first to experiment with all ceiling sales areas, exposed structural elements such as piping and HVAC ducts, large-scale state-of-the-art telephone systems and POS systems, video departments, one-hour photo, bulk foods, and many other "new" 1980s concepts. This design carried over to the Omni Superstore Division of Dominick's.
Between early 1985 and 1988, Dominick's food and drug combo stores contained a full glass front wall that overlooked the parking lot with a customer service desk in the middle of the glass wall. Between 1988 and 1993, Dominick's stores contained a 2-story area (similar to its sister format Omni Superstore) at the front of the store. The first floor contained the customer service desk area, entry/exit vestibules, the security room, the video department, and a bank. The 2nd level contained a break room, employee restrooms, office area, and windows that overlooked the sales floor. After 1993 and the introduction of the Dominick's Fresh Stores, the design was switched back to a single-level store throughout.
In the 1990s, Dominick's took the "food and drug" combo to the next level with the introduction of the Dominick's Fresh Store in 1993. The Dominick's "Fresh Store" introduced prepared foods, in-store restaurants/cafés, Starbucks cafés, soft lighting, upscale subtle graphics, uniform products signage, and a general European Market feel to the Dominick's stores. During the late 1990s, the Fresh Stores were the main expansion model for Dominick's and was rolled out to all new stores including former Omni Superstores, up until the purchase by Safeway.
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Dominick's
Dominick's was a Chicago-area grocery store chain and subsidiary of Safeway Inc. Dominick's distribution center was located in Northlake, Illinois, while its management offices were located in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Dominick DiMatteo, born in Sicily, founded the chain in 1918. The second Dominick's opened in 1934. In 1950, the DiMatteos opened their first supermarket, a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m2) store.
By 1968, the chain had reached 19 stores. The family elected to sell their store to the Cleveland company Fisher Foods. The DiMatteos continued to operate the chain under the financial backing of Fisher Foods. Under Fisher, Dominick's acquired 24 stores plus a 462,000-square-foot distribution center in Northlake from Kroger in two separate transactions in 1970. The new acquisitions from Kroger increased the number of stores to 45. The Northlake distribution center, which was originally built by Kroger in 1961, was used by Dominick's until the chain was closed in 2014.
By the 1980s, the family had become unhappy with the agreement and bought back the chain in 1981 for $100 million. The DiMatteos continued to expand and had acquired 4 stores from Kohl's and 16 stores from Eagle in 1982 and 1985 respectively.
In 1986, Dominick's experimented with a discount grocery store concept called Jerry's Deep Discount Centers with just 3 units, but the experiment was terminated after a few months of operation.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, under the direction of Bob Mariano, Dominick's experimented with new large "food and drug" combo stores. Dominick's was one of the first to experiment with all ceiling sales areas, exposed structural elements such as piping and HVAC ducts, large-scale state-of-the-art telephone systems and POS systems, video departments, one-hour photo, bulk foods, and many other "new" 1980s concepts. This design carried over to the Omni Superstore Division of Dominick's.
Between early 1985 and 1988, Dominick's food and drug combo stores contained a full glass front wall that overlooked the parking lot with a customer service desk in the middle of the glass wall. Between 1988 and 1993, Dominick's stores contained a 2-story area (similar to its sister format Omni Superstore) at the front of the store. The first floor contained the customer service desk area, entry/exit vestibules, the security room, the video department, and a bank. The 2nd level contained a break room, employee restrooms, office area, and windows that overlooked the sales floor. After 1993 and the introduction of the Dominick's Fresh Stores, the design was switched back to a single-level store throughout.
In the 1990s, Dominick's took the "food and drug" combo to the next level with the introduction of the Dominick's Fresh Store in 1993. The Dominick's "Fresh Store" introduced prepared foods, in-store restaurants/cafés, Starbucks cafés, soft lighting, upscale subtle graphics, uniform products signage, and a general European Market feel to the Dominick's stores. During the late 1990s, the Fresh Stores were the main expansion model for Dominick's and was rolled out to all new stores including former Omni Superstores, up until the purchase by Safeway.