CHICAGO, IL - Bob Mariano, the visionary behind the now Kroger-owned grocery chain Mariano’s, is starting afresh and making plans to found a new, innovative grocery chain. In his latest move, Mariano is wielding a $10 million investment to build Dom’s Market & Kitchen, a “next-generation” grocery store chain that combines shopping, restaurant dining, and home delivery.

“Dom’s will be a neighborhood destination where consumers can drop in several times per week, explore new foods, watch the cooking process in open preparation areas, participate in a wine tasting class, dine in, or take home prepared foods or cooking ingredients,” said Jay Owen, who is partnering with Bob Mariano and Don Fitzgerald on the new venture, in a statement obtained by Crain’s Chicago Business.

Dom’s Market & Kitchen will consist of small-format stores spanning urban neighborhoods and offering a variety of grocery and specialty food items, including meal kits, take-home meals, and dine-in meals prepared in an open kitchen. Grocery goods and meal kits will be available for delivery. The chain, which is slated for a March 2021 opening, will kick off at a yet-to-be announced location in Chicago’s Lincoln Park area.

The $10 million investment funding the new grocery chain was provided by Chicago-based venture capital firms Valor Siren Ventures and Cleveland Avenue—the latter of which is led by former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson, a major investor in Beyond Meat and Farmer’s Fridge. With this group of investors at Dom’s Market & Kitchen’s back, the grocery industry should anticipate ground-breaking innovation from this new chain.

How will this new grocery chain shake up the grocery retail market? AndNowUKnow will continue to follow along with the latest fresh produce industry news.

Dom's Market & Kitchen