Grocery store chain to open Hanover Park location

Several months after Hanover Park officials learned Ultra Foods was leaving the village and taking 111 jobs with it, another grocery chain has announced plans to open in the same spot.

Tony’s Finer Foods, a family-owned company based in Itasca, will move into the vacant Westview Shopping Center building at 7580 Barrington Road.

“Hanover Park’s a really good community with a big mixture of cultures, so we look forward to having different products that will reflect that,” said Jim Marnos, the grocer’s director of human resources.

Marnos said it’s still early in the process, so he can say only that the company hopes to open sometime in spring 2013. The store will employ about 200 mostly part-time workers, he said.

Hanover Park Village Planner Katie Bowman said Tony’s Finer Foods has applied for building permits. The site is about 67,000 square feet, according to property owner Brixmor.

“We feel they’re a great business that will be successful at this busy and important intersection,” Bowman said. “We’re excited to see a company like Tony’s invest in the village.”

The shopping center used to be located in a tax increment financing district, but it has expired and Tony’s isn’t eligible for any financial incentives.

Marnos said that in addition to a sizable produce section, bakery, and meat and deli counter, the store will carry various ethnic products based on company research of the community’s demographics. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 38.3 percent of Hanover Park’s 38,000 residents are Hispanic.

Tony’s Finer Foods, which started in 1979 with a store on Fullerton Avenue in Chicago, operates three stores in Chicago and other locations in Bridgeview, Melrose Park, Niles and North Riverside. A ninth store in Plainfield will open after Jan. 1.

Ultra Foods, a discount grocery chain, closed the store due to poor performance, parent company SVT LLC said at the time.