Jewel buys five more Dominick's stores

Five additional former Dominick's Finer Foods stores, including two in the Northwest suburbs, will reopen as Jewel-Osco supermarkets under a deal inked Thursday, company officials said.

Stores at 345 S. Rand Road in Lake Zurich and 800 Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove changed hands as part of the purchase, according to a news release from New Albertsons, Jewel-Osco's parent company.

Neither Lake Zurich mayor Tom Poynton nor Fox River Grove Mayor Robert Nunamaker could be immediately reached for comment.

A third store is in Merionette Park. The other two are in Chicago.

The stores will be remodeled, Jewel-Osco spokeswoman Allison Sperling said. She didn't know when they'd be open to customers.

“We're going to take our time remodeling these,” she said.

The five stores are expected to bring more than 1,000 jobs, Sperling said. She didn't know what the company's human-resources needs were, but she encouraged any former Dominick's employees to apply for jobs.

New Albertson's has purchased several of the former Dominick's stores after the chain shut down late last year. Dominick's parent company, Safeway, pulled out of the Chicago area but continues to operate supermarkets elsewhere.

Other former Dominick's stores have been purchased by different grocery chains.

When asked if more purchases are planned by New Albertson's, Sterling said the company will “continue to review any possibilities.”