CHICAGO, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Grocery chain Mariano's has taken over 11 Dominick's Chicago locations and will stagger their conversion to the Mariano's brand, the company said.
Five locations will be partly converted Dec. 28, as Mariano's parent company Roundy's begins to run the pharmacies with the grocery operations at that point closed so Safeway, the owner of Dominick's, can present them to the new owners "broom-clean," on Jan. 25, said Roundy's spokesman Jim Hyland.
The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that the other six locations in the $36 million deal will continue to be run by Dominick's under a sub-lease until March 7.
Four of those will re-open in April after renovations, the newspaper said. The last one will not open until late in the year due to the need for extensive renovations, the Tribune reported.
Mariano's has 24 stores in the Chicago area, including the 11 it closed on on Friday. In addition, it is building five new stores that are expected to open in 2014.
Retailer Jewel bought four Dominick's stores in October, which leaves 57 Dominick's location without a new owner.
There are 6,000 jobs at stake in those stores, which are likely to close and then sold, the Tribune said.
