CHICAGO -- A year ago, Mariano’s was a small niche player in the grocery retailing world. But since the fall of the Dominick’s chain in 2013, Mariano’s has become a major player in the Chicago market, growing from 12 grocery stores that year to 31 sites today, setting the standard in the market for fresh food and products.
So it was fitting that namesake Bob Mariano, president and CEO of Mariano’s parent company Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc., was a keynote speaker during the United Fresh Produce Association’s expo in Chicago this week. In fact, he was bold enough to note, “If you haven’t been to a Mariano’s store, you haven’t experienced Chicago.”
Mariano focused on the ever-changing nature of the grocery business, saying that’s precisely what has made the Mariano’s grocery chain a success. “The history of our business is a study in adapting to meet changing needs,” he said. “Customers are now buying groceries across all channels, even in hardware stores. … Five years ago, I wasn’t thinking about coconut water, but Madonna was.”
He added, however, that technology, and specifically online shopping, “won’t do to grocery stores what it did to book stores or music stores.”
“Technology is changing both the front end and the backend of our business,” he said, pointing out that there are more than 1,000 grocery-related apps available to consumers. However, the growing desire for fresh foods and local sourcing will make the brick-and-mortar grocery store almost impossible to replace.
“Fresh foods are ascending; processed foods are descending,” he said. “When I grew up here in Chicago, there really was only one kind of lettuce; we called in ‘lettuce.’ ”
The Mariano’s grocery chain was created with this move toward fresh foods in mind, much of it driven by consumers in the millennial generation. “They are setting the agenda for our industry,” Mariano said. “They’re rejecting the idea that eating healthy has to be boring.
“The cliché is that for the previous generation, the oven was used as a flower pot. Today, that’s not the case. With all the cooking shows, we’re really now in a food culture. …
“Ninety-two percent of adults believe eating at home is healthier than eating out. And healthy is a lot easier if it comes with an enjoyable shopping experience,” he said in reference to his stores’ ample sampling programs and a piano player performing in most stores, among other amenities.
“The customer is more receptive than ever to a conversation about the value of fresh foods,” he said. “We are selling a product that people put in their mouths, that makes them feel better ad can improve their lives.”
This is why Mariano’s embraces the slogan: Shop well. East well. Live well.
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