Naperville Mariano's to open in 2016
Mariano's will keep Naperville customers in suspense until 2016.
The store planned to replace a former Dominick's at 1300 S. Naper Blvd. still needs several months of work - including demolishing the old building and constructing a new one - before it will open, officials said.
"It is new construction. It's not just coming in and renovating the space," said Christine Jeffries, president and CEO of the Naperville Development Partnership. "That's why it's a little bit of a game-changer."
James Hyland, a spokesman for Mariano's parent company, Roundy's Supermarkets Inc., said the Naperville store is being designed in advance of an opening sometime next year at a leased property in the Fox Run Square shopping center. He said it's too early in the process to predict an exact opening date or give any other details about the store.
A Dominick's at that location, which is just north of 75th Street, closed in late 2013 when Safeway, the chain's parent company, pulled out of the Chicago area. Mariano's chose the Fox Run Square location over other former Dominick's stores in Naperville at Raymond Drive and North Aurora Road or at Route 59 and 95th Street.
Last week, Mariano's requested building permits from the city and the application is under review, said Bill Novack, Naperville's director of transportation, engineering and development.
Nearby Mariano's stores have opened in Wheaton, Aurora, Westchester, Western Springs and Elmhurst among more than 30 locations of the upscale grocer in the Chicago area. This year marks the chain's fifth anniversary after opening its first store in 2010 in Arlington Heights.