Grocery store exec Lavelle dies
Funeral services will take place Tuesday for Martin Lavelle, of South Barrington, who owned a grocery store chain and served on the board of a major food distributor.
Lavelle died of complications from a heart condition on May 9. He was 79. He most recently owned and operated the Edmar Foods grocery store chain, now with one location in Bensenville, and the Mared Building Corp. with longtime partner, Ed Olczyk.
“If he told you something you could take it to the bank,” said Olczyk. “He was as honest and proud individual as there ever was.”
Lavelle’s career began at 16 when he worked as a stock boy for the Del Farm Foods store. Staying with the store, which was then owned by the National Tea Co., Lavelle served as a district manager before becoming the director of sales and marketing in 1965.
Nine years later, he became the regional vice president/director of supermarkets, overseeing 65 Chicago area stores for National Tea. The chain then was sold to the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., known as A&P, where he oversaw more than 100 stores as director of supermarkets.
At A&P, he met Olczyk and began planning an independent course.
“I worked for Marty at A&P and we often talked about opening a store. Once we made the decision, we worked many, many hours to prepare to open,” Olczyk said. Edmar Foods Inc. was formed on Aug. 28, 1978, and the new venture opened a store at 115th and Western in Chicago. Edmar Foods soon grew to nine Chicago locations.
“Marty had the plan to grow,” Olczyk said. “Before we opened the first store he told me within 10 years we’ll have a group of stores and he already had a plan for buying the property as well. He was a visionary.”
The pair eventually partnered in Mared Building Corp., which bought and assembled retail sites in Chicago and surrounding suburbs beginning in 1990. Alfredo Lineras, who owns six food stores, purchased one from Lavelle 11 years ago.
“I bought that store on a handshake. We agreed on the terms and I was to get the store one year later,” Lineras said. “But after six months, Marty called me and said someone else was offering him a lot more money than I had agreed to pay. But rather than taking away my opportunity, or even asking me for more, he just wanted to let me know in case I wanted to make the sale to the other buyer and make the money myself. That’s the kind of man he was, a real gentleman and always a man of his word.” Lineras said that the store on Cicero Avenue is now one of his most successful.
Lavelle’s success and reputation in the food industry led to his invitation to join the board of directors of Central Grocers Inc. in 1992, where he served for 10 years. Founded in 1917, Central Grocers is one of the nation’s largest cooperative distribution centers with a 970,000 square foot facility that opened in Joliet in 2009.
Central Grocers CEO Jim Denges recognized Lavelle’s impact on the organization’s growth during his tenure on the board.
“He served during the time the directors and management made the critical decisions that gave us the start of our financial foundation that brought us our success today,” Denges said.
He also acknowledged the type of man that Lavelle was outside of the boardroom.
“He always expressed his feelings that our personal health should be the most important concern and that I should never forget that. Often when we had a chance to talk, we would look back as to the where the company was as compared to now. Marty will always be in my thoughts.”
Lavelle was married for more than 50 years to his wife, Pat. He’s also survived by sons Kevin and Kerry and daughter Shannon. He had seven grandchildren.
His wake is today at 4 to 9 p.m. at Ahlgrim & Sons funeral home, 330 W. Golf Road, Schaumburg. The funeral begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday with services at St. Hubert’s Catholic Church, 729 Grand Canyon St., Hoffman Estates.
Ÿ Daily Herald Business Writer Anna Marie Kukec contributed to this report.