Large crowds, heavy traffic greet Wheaton’s Mariano’s

In the days before Mariano’s Fresh Market opened its doors in Wheaton, company officials promised to make shopping an event and their store at Naperville and Roosevelt roads a destination.

On Tuesday, they got off to a good start.

By midmorning, just hours after its grand opening, the store was packed with shoppers who navigated heavy traffic and overflowing parking lots to be among the first to get a peek inside the building that includes bars serving smoothies and gelato, a 100-seat cafe and, on Tuesday at least, enough free samples to feed a small army.

Roundy’s Founder and CEO Bob Mariano says it’s not uncommon for customers to spend three or four hours during a visit, and the Wheaton location’s 425 employees have undergone weeks of training to make that stay as pleasant as possible.

“We are receiving a tremendous reception from the Wheaton community,” Mariano said in an email late Tuesday afternoon, “and I’m thrilled shoppers are excited about unique Mariano’s offerings like our in-house BBQ and smoothie bar.”

Wheaton officials have said they expect the store to generate between $70 million and $80 million a year in gross sales.

Mariano has said he’ll be collecting data during the store’s first week of operation to determine its 100 most popular items compared to the top-selling items in his 12 other Chicago-area stores. He said his staff will be prepared to quickly remove items that aren’t selling and to replace them with items customers request.