Dive Brief:
- Dom's Kitchen & Market announced on Monday plans to open its first suburban location.
- Located in Vernon Hills, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago, the 25,000-square-foot store is expected to open in 2025 following a ground-up construction project.
- Dom’s said that the Vernon Hills location marks a significant milestone for the nascent grocer as its first foray into the Chicago-area suburbs.
Dive Insight:
Hot on the heels of its announced merger with Foxtrot Market, Dom’s has notched another key development on its journey to become a competitive regional grocery chain.
The Vernon Hills store will be situated at the intersection of IL-21 and IL-60 — Lake County’s two main thoroughfares — along the outer edge of the Hawthorn Mall.
Like Dom’s urban stores, the Vernon Hills one will include grocery aisles, prepared meals and Dom’s coffee and wine bar, The Brew.
Jeff Rutzen, general manager at Hawthorn, said in the announcement that Dom’s arrival in Vernon Hills is a major part of Hawthorn’s “2.0 redevelopment project.”
“Dom’s Kitchen & Market is exactly the kind of first-to-market retail experience we want to provide for our shoppers and residents as we continue to break from tradition in shopping center retail and create a truly unique, comfortable and approachable shopping and living experience for the community,” Rutzen said.
The Vernon Hills store marks the second planned store announcement for Dom’s this year. A few months ago, Dom’s unveiled plans to arrive in Chicago’s River North neighborhood in summer 2024. That location will resemble the layout of the store in the Lincoln Park neighborhood with The Kitchen — Dom’s foodservice and culinary offerings — situated at the center of the store, Dom’s CEO Don Fitzgerald said in an interview in the fall.
Fitzgerald said that Dom’s had started looking beyond the city’s limits for new store locations following positive feedback from customers and various towns and cities approaching the company.
Initially helmed by grocery industry veteran Bob Mariano, who had previously founded the grocery banner Mariano’s and served as CEO of Roundy’s and Dominick’s, Dom’s made its debut with the Lincoln Park store in 2021 and then opened a location in the Old Town neighborhood last fall. Mariano became co-chairman of the company’s board of directors when Fitzgerald became the sole CEO of Dom’s this summer.
Three weeks ago, Foxtrot Market and Dom’s Kitchen & Market announced plans to merge by the end of 2023 and operate under a new entity, Outfox Hospitality, with Foxtrot CEO Liz Williams as the new company’s CEO and Fitzgerald serving as Dom’s president and chief operating officer through a transition period. When announcing the deal, Foxtrot and Dom’s highlighted how both of their brands share a vision for innovating food and dining experiences.
