LINCOLN PARK — Contractors have begun construction on a new small-footprint grocery store created by Mariano’s founder Bob Mariano and opening next April in Lincoln Park.
Dom’s Kitchen and Market — the first in a chain of neighborhood grocery and takeout stores announced in May — will be located at 2730 N. Halsted St.
Nina Mariano, spokesperson for the store, said Wednesday the building has been vacated and construction is under way.
She said they flipped the store’s name — originally Dom’s Market and Kitchen — to emphasize its kitchen first because “we’re feeling more like a kitchen now.”
In addition to functioning as a grocery store, Dom’s Kitchen and Market will serve prepared meals for takeout, on-site dining and delivery, according to the store’s announcement.
“We will not be conventional in any way,” Bob Mariano said in a statement.
Mariano said Lincoln Park “is an ideal place to start” because “the density and demographics are well-suited to our focus.”
Jay Owen, great grandson of Dominick’s founder Dominick DiMatteo, will be chairman of the new store, which is funded by a $10 million investment from Valor Siren Ventures, Cleveland Avenue and Molto Capital.
Owen described Dom’s Kitchen and Market as a “neighborhood destination” where people can “drop in several times per week, explore new foods [and] watch the cooking process in open preparation areas.”
Once the store is fully operational, Mariano plans to open additional Dom’s Kitchen and Market stores throughout Chicago, focusing on urban neighborhood communities.
Jake Wittich is a Report for America corps member covering Lakeview, Lincoln Park and LGBTQ communities across the city for Block Club Chicago.
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Already subscribe? Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.