Caputo's grocery store in Des Plaines closes again

Editor's note: This story has been update to correct the owner's name to Joe Caputo.

Joe's Fresh Market in Des Plaines has closed months after the grocer reopened in Des Plaines.

Joe Caputo, owner of the grocery store formerly named Joe Caputo & Sons at 959 E. Oakton St., confirmed Tuesday he's permanently out of business. The store had been closed the past few days, to the surprise of some shoppers.

“I got a sick son and got to take care of his health,” Caputo said, declining to comment further.

After 27 years in business, the store closed last summer only to reopen in February — stirring excitement among loyal customers. Caputo declined to comment whether the recent opening of Mariano's at Golf and Mount Prospect roads contributed to the closure.

Before the first closure, the company had been mired in financial troubles after becoming overextended in its effort to take over several former Dominick's locations. It closed stores in Elk Grove Village, Arlington Heights and Northbrook and faced a federal lawsuit seeking payment of $4.6 million in produce bills.

In a May 2016 public auction, the owners of Butera and Piggly Wiggly grocery stores won some of Caputo's assets with a bid of $32 million. The properties included The Oaks Shopping Center at the northeast corner of Oakton and Lee streets, along with the fixtures, equipment and inventory of the 10,200-square-foot store at 959 E. Oakton St.

Butera also acquired the Fox Fire Plaza at Hicks and Rand roads in Palatine, including the Caputo store there, and the Caputo store at 100 S. Randall Road in Algonquin.

Joe Caputo & Sons is separate from the suburban grocery stores operating as Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets.