La Dolce Vita
Roundy’s plants its flag in Chicago with class, as shoppers make Mariano’s a social event.
When folks think of a night out, it’s unlikely that the neighborhood grocery store comes to mind.
But that’s just what shoppers in and around one Chicago suburb are thinking now that Mariano’s Fresh Market - the first of several stores planned by Milwaukee-based Roundy’s Supermarkets for its foray into the Windy City market - has made its long-awaited arrival.
The 66,000-square-foot market boasts more than 900 varieties of produce from local farmers and beyond, artisan breads, a service meat counter with 30 types of sausages made on-site, seafood featuring items available within 24 hours of being caught, made-to-order sushi made by employees trained by chefs at Chicago’s hip Tank Sushi restaurant, fresh pizzas fired in an imported Italian oven, a full-service coffee bar with homemade Italian gelato, a wine and cheese shop with wines from all regions and imported and domestic cheeses, an extensive fl oral department, and soup and salad bars.
“The thing that really caught me by surprise was people who come in with their kids at the dinner hour,” declares Steve Jarzombek, Roundy’s VP of merchandising. “It’s an event for the family. They get their pizza, sit down and play some games, get some gelato, and do their grocery shopping. We’re busy until 8:30 or 9 p.m. A lot of college kids come between 8 and 10 - they love the gelato. It’s a complete social experience.”
That’s something that’s been driven home for Bob Mariano, Roundy’s chairman and CEO, since the market opened last July in Arlington Heights, Ill., an upper-middle-class community located 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. “They say food retailing is social. If I ever had any doubt, this store got rid of it,” he affirms. “People come just to meet - they’ll have a gelato, talk, then shop - it’s something they enjoy.”
The store’s name pays homage to the vision and Italian culinary heritage of Mariano, a grocery industry veteran who took the helm of Roundy’s in June 2002 after a 28-year industry career, the formative years of which were spent with Chicago-based Dominick’s Finer Foods. Working his way up from deli clerk to the chief executive of Dominick’s prior to the chain’s sale to Safeway in 1998, Mariano developed his keen instincts and abiding appreciation for neighborhood retailing under the tutelage of “Mr. D.” - Dominick Di Matteo, the legendary son of Dominick’s founder, whom Mariano has long credited with having an enduring influence on his expertise as both a hands-on merchant and a community servant.
Vivian King, Roundy’s director of public affairs, says the store precisely captures all that Mariano was striving for when plans first got underway. “He envisioned a full-service grocery store for Chicago shoppers that provides them with one-stop shopping, to address all their needs. The store combines a high-quality shopping experience with competitive pricing,” King says.
And because this store bears Mariano’s name, King adds: “It has an even more unique commitment of the CEO. It is his vision, and he is totally committed to making sure it succeeds and learning from it so that we may use best practices in our other stores.”
Mariano’s expectations extend well beyond the selling of groceries. “From the beginning, Bob wanted this store to be a part of the fabric of the Arlington Heights community,” King notes. “He believes in Mariano’s being more than just a grocery store. It is a community partner that has a responsibility to serve its local neighborhood. The most rewarding part is becoming a part of the community by providing a story hour to local children, donating to the local food pantry and partnering with the Arlington Heights Park District on various projects.”
The site used to be occupied by an auto dealership, according to Mariano. “It’s a very neighborhood-type of location: many homes, good access, good visibility,” he says, “and there used to be a food store across the street that closed, so there was a void. Overall, customers here have been extremely pleased. They enjoy the quality, the assortment and the service they get.”
Mariano shares several anecdotes about how he’s seen his new store change how folks look at grocery shopping. One’s about an elderly couple; the husband hated to shop until he visited Mariano’s. “Now he comes in himself with a motorized cart and does his own shopping,” Mariano recounts.
“Food retailers need to realize that people are very much aware of what they’re eating and want a great experience in a food store,” he continues. “You can talk all you want about big boxes - at the end of the day, the customer wants a great shopping experience at one store.”
Grabbing Their Senses
That’s what Roundy’s aims to deliver with Mariano’s Fresh Market. “The biggest challenge has been keeping up with the demand and excitement,” King says. “We are looking forward to opening other stores to serve even more Chicagoland neighborhoods,” including planned new locations in Palatine, Vernon Hills and the city of Chicago. And it certainly helps that Mariano is intimately familiar with the market.
During the planning phase of the Arlington Heights store, Mariano, along with a team of Roundy’s executives familiar with the Chicago market, did extensive market research. “The team consulted with a variety of local restaurateurs to develop the fresh offerings in Mariano’s,” King explains.
Most shoppers’ first impression of the store is the produce section, which features high ceilings and an open, rustic, farmers’-market feel. “We want every customer to stop and shop as if they were at a farm stand. It’s a very European shopping experience,” Mariano says, noting an abundance of European immigrants among the store’s clientele. “They love it - it feels like a bustling market square.”
From produce, the market’s main drag is bracketed by a sumptuous prepared foods area - including a gelato and fried dough bar, salad bar, brick pizza oven, and carving station with entrees and custom-made sandwiches - and the bakery, which delivers in-house offerings, cakes decorated to order, and local favorites brought in from ethnic bakeries in the area, like bagels and coffee cakes.
“Instead of trying to replicate, we sought out things we thought were special, to make it feel like a neighborhood bakery,” Mariano says, adding that the store-made best-sellers are cookies and cupcakes, and the store “can’t keep up with cream puffs.” The bakery has been so successful, he says, “the second week after opening, we added another oven.”
Cakes suitable for weddings are made to order. “We produce a lot of products right in front of the customers,” Jarzombek says. “We might have five, six, seven cake decorators working at one time.”
Meanwhile, Mariano says the store brings a number of firsts to its market. “I don’t know anybody else who has a gelato bar,” he says. “I don’t know anybody with a sushi chef on premise to make real sushi.” Several varieties of fish are fl own in daily, Mariano notes; the gelato - developed with a certified gelato maker - is made at the Roundy’s commissary in Kenosha, Wis.
Also attracting lunch and dinner traffic to the store are the salad bar, featuring fresh salsa and guacamole, along with many organic selections and seasonal items; items changed seasonally; $6 hot meals, among them entrees like carved turkey and meat loaf plus two sides; and homemade soup, which Mariano says sells well even during warmer weather.
During the lunch hour, Mariano says the prepared food area is so crowded, “you can’t get close to it.” Jarzombek adds: “This is remarkable to see at midday. Folks recognize our selection and line up for it.”
For those not looking for takeout, there’s an indoor seating area with room for 30, featuring a flat-screen television tuned to Food Network programming, and an outdoor patio.
“They see neighbors, they talk about what they’re buying,” Jarzombek says of the gathered masses. “You first walk in and you’re inundated with great produce items: fresh-cut fruit, salad bar, items made fresh daily. Right away, you’ve got their senses. This alley is a mindblower.”
Bob Glisch, VP of retail support, adds, “When you can’t get down this aisle on a Saturday night, you know you have a home run.”
Moving past what Jarzombek describes as an “old-world deli” featuring various Italian meats and products from Dietz & Watson, shoppers discover the seafood department, where they’ll find ready-to-eat seafood soups along with select ready-to-cook entrees priced at $4 and $6. Across the aisle is the massive cheese area that segues into the wine shop with its extensive selections; tastings and pairings are frequent.
Opportunities abound storewide for suppliers to test new products. “We want the customers to try foods,” Jarzombek says. “We do a lot of tastings throughout the week.”
Adjoining the wine shop is another of the store’s big hits: the walk-in beer cooler, which features mix-and-match 6-packs of a wide variety of regional and craft beers. Jarzombek says kabobs are a big seller in the meat department, which also features prime Black Angus beef, pub burgers, and fresh-made sausages “by the yard.” Customers can even get steaks cooked to order right before their eyes, at no additional charge.
“We’ll grill it for them, and they can go ahead and eat it,” Mariano says, explaining that the meat department is “designed for personal choice. We want to have a conversation with customers - what they want, how to prepare it. We want the education to be ongoing.”
Diverse Assortment
Moving into center store, Mariano points out the large overhead pricing signs that stress what he says is the great value this market delivers. “We identify special items customers are aware of and price them - not cheapest, but well,” he says. “Comments we get from customers are that our pricing is good.”
The pricing spectrum ranges from the Clear Value label on the low end, Roundy’s own private brand in the middle, and name brands on the high end. “From a market leadership standpoint, this store provides unique, high-quality products at affordable prices,” King says. “Additionally, it has value items that truly allow shopping at every price point. This is something on which we can continue to build.”
Mariano’s makes sure those prices are clearly visible to shoppers; it even uses larger tags on the bottom shelves for better visibility. “This is the first store where we did that, but it’s going to be the norm,” Jarzombek notes.
But, he adds, for many folks, price isn’t the only driver. “The consumer is really aware of their choices and what they want to buy,” he says.
For example, the Mariano’s daily low price for a gallon of whole milk is $1.99, but “we struggle to keep organic milk on the shelf,” Jarzombek says, explaining that the dairy case features two doors of organic milk, one door of Oberweis (a premium-priced boutique milk brand sold in glass bottles) and one door of lactose-free milk. Similarly, Mariano’s prices a dozen large eggs at 99 cents, but shoppers routinely clear out the two full doors of natural, organic and cage-free eggs priced at up to $2.79 a dozen.
“It’s not all about pricing — folks want to eat good foods,” Jarzombek says. “It’s an evolution in the food industry.”
Following the trend of greater food awareness, the pharmacy at Mariano’s has evolved into something of a wellness education center. Shoppers can research nutrition information at an interactive touch-screen kiosk. An on-site registered dietitian is available for personal consultations on diet and nutrition. The store plans to host wellness events and offers guides on such subjects as gluten-free eating. Elsewhere in the store, shelf talkers trumpet better-for-you products; organic and natural products are prominent, some displayed on bump-outs; and the gluten-free foods section continues to grow.
Mariano says the assortment “is based on research on what customers were looking for. It’s a very diverse area in terms of ethnicities and cultures.” As such, he notes the international aisles are “well shopped …. [We] continue to work on it as customers tell us what they’re looking for.”
The store offers expanded selections on most products. A “big bargain buy” aisle features competitively priced larger lots of cereal, coffee, sugar, paper products and other items shoppers might otherwise purchase at club stores.
Floral is an oasis of sorts amid center store. An in-store designer works up custom arrangements, and blooms can be teamed with wines and gourmet foods to create gift baskets.
Frozen is the last department at the back of the store — “old-school positioning,” Mariano says. “It’s very comfortable in here — natural light from the windows, generous aisles — not like you’re in a cave or off in some corner by yourself.”
To conserve energy, sensor lighting in the cases comes on only when shoppers approach. That’s just one of many such features at Mariano’s, which the CEO says was built as a green store “from the ground up,” including certified “renewable forest” lumber. Meeting Silver LEED guidelines, the market features “smart” windows that let in light but not heat, computer-controlled lighting, and food containers made from recycled materials. Energy usage is monitored and directed from Roundy’s corporate headquarters to optimize the power supply.
Delivering Service
For this new concept to succeed, Mariano’s needed just the right people to take charge of day-to-day operations. There was no shortage of candidates: “We interviewed 3,000 to get 300 [employees],” Mariano says. “We felt it very critical to have people with the right attitude, to train them and continue to work with them.”
King elaborates: “Communication of this new concept began with the hiring process. We were able to begin inspiring and motivating employees before they became employees by communicating up front the expectations of this store.”
The store continues the training process in order to stress how important customer service is to its mission. “You can’t talk service,” Mariano says. “You either deliver it or you don’t.”
It’s obvious when talking with Mariano that he’s enthusiastic about this first link in a budding chain and that he’s eager to launch initiatives to make people better educated and more excited about good food.
While he seems quite satisfied with the finished product, an effusive Mariano declares, “There’s so much more to do!” Next on his radar: cooking classes, especially those focusing on foods with which folks might not be familiar or comfortable — artichokes, for instance. “People are afraid to make them because they don’t know how. Don’t take anything for granted. Show them how to enjoy all the fruits and vegetables,” he says.
Mariano sums up: “Our tagline is ‘Shop well, eat well, live well.’ We want [shoppers] to have an enjoyable time and eat high-quality fresh food that’s good for them. We’ve tried to make that easy.”
Mariano’s Fresh Market
802 E. Northwest Highway, Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Grand Opening Date: July 20, 2010
Total Square Footage: 66,560 square feet
Selling Area: 49,754 square feet
Number of SKUs: More than 60,000
Total Weekly Sales: $750,000*
Employees: 428
Checkouts: 16
Store Hours: 6 a.m.-10 p.m., seven days a week
Store Designer: Schroeder & Holt Architects, Milwaukee
*Progressive Grocer estimate
“Food retailers need to realize that people are very much aware of what they’re eating and want a great experience in a food store.”
-Bob Mariano