The Buffalo Grove Mariano’s at Buffalo Grove Road and Half Day Road will be closing with two other Chicagoland stores in August 2025, while a rapid closure of the Northfield Mariano’s occurred ahead of schedule today, Friday, June 27, 2025 at noon.
The store closures are part of parent company Kroger’s nationwide store closing plans that will involve 60 stores closures in 2025 and 2026.
The three August Mariano’s store closures are …
Mariano’s Buffalo Grove, at 450 W Half Day Rd.
CLOSING August 8, 2025; and
Mariano’s Bloomingdale, at 144 S. Gary Ave.
CLOSING August 15, 2025
Mariano’s Glenview West, 2323 Capital Dr.
CLOSING August 22, 2025
The first Mariano’s closure occurred June 2025 in Northfield near the Edens Expressway …
The first Mariano’s closure in Chicagoland occurred today, Friday June 27, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. at 1822 Willow Road in Northfield. The closure occurred ahead of schedule. Telephone calls were not answered after 12:00 p.m. The Northfield Mariano’s store personnel were simply hanging up on people who attempted to call customer service, or who attempted to speak with the pharmacy about prescriptions filled at the store.
A Kroger spokesperson said the closures were “part of a larger company-wide decision to run more efficiently and ensure the long-term health of our business.”
In a statement, Kroger discussed the dozens of stores it plans to close over the next 18 months, calling the stores a “$100 million impairment charge.”
Kroger owns the following brand name supermarkets, multi-department store chains, meal delivery service, cheese specialties, nutritional supplements, and discount stores: Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Foods Co., Fred Meyer, fry’s, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, Jay C Food Stores, King Soopers, Kroger, Mariano’s, Metro Market, Pay Less, Pick ‘n Save, QFC, Ralphs, Ruler Foods, Smith’s, and Vitacost.
Kroger expects to gain a “modest financial benefit” from the closures.
Affected employees will have the chance to transfer to a different store location, according to Kroger.
“Kroger is committed to reinvesting these savings back into the customer experience, and as a result, this will not impact full-year guidance,” Kroger said in a release announcing earnings.
Kroger add that the company is “committed to affordable and accurate pricing.”
Krogers is enhancing existing Mariano’s stores. The Arlington Heights store recently replaced the Gelato counter with a Stan’s Donuts counter. Other stores also have a Stan’s Donuts pop-up, and Mariano’s stores will continue to feature local vendors and brands.
“For nearly two decades, Kroger’s business model has been rooted in bringing down prices to attract more customers to our stores — and this is not changing. We respect our associates and our customers, and we conduct our business accordingly.”
— Kroger
June 2025’s Mariano’s store closures were announced less than one year after the attempt by Kroger to merge with Jewel-Osco’s parent company Albertson’s was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), including lawsuits involving multiple states’ Attorney’s Generals. Next, Kroger and Albertson’s sued each other when the merger fell apart.
Albertsons has filed a lawsuit against Kroger for billions of dollars in damages, after Kroger terminated their proposed $25 billion merger. Albertsons alleged that Kroger breached the merger agreement by failing to adequately pursue regulatory approval, and by refusing to divest enough stores to satisfy antitrust requirement by the FTC. Kroger countersued, alleging that Albertsons and C&S Wholesale Grocers secretly worked together to undermine the merger and pressure Kroger to sell more assets.
Had the merger succeeded, several Mariano’s stores, including the first Mariano’s store in Arlington Heights at 802 East Northwest Highway, would have been sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers. Merger analysts claimed the merger was shaky because C&S Wholesale Grocers was not equipped to go to scale and operate several new Mariano’s stores. This alleged C&S Wholesale Grocers logistics problem existed in addition to the anti-trust concerns.
The legal proceedings for the lawsuits are ongoing.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted on December 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Kroger Company from acquiring Albertsons Companies, Inc. in what would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history. The FTC challenged the $24.6 billion deal alongside a bipartisan group of nine state attorneys general.
Kroger still owns Mariano’s locally among other stores nationally, and Albertsons still owns Jewel-Osco among other stores nationwide.
In response to the district court’s order, Bureau of Competition Director Henry Liu issued the following statement:
“The FTC, along with our state partners, scored a major victory for the American people, successfully blocking Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons.
This historic win protects millions of Americans across the country from higher prices for essential groceries—from milk, to bread, to eggs—ultimately allowing consumers to keep more money in their pockets. This victory has a direct, tangible impact on the lives of millions of Americans who shop at Kroger or Albertsons-owned grocery stores for their everyday needs, whether that’s a Fry’s in Arizona, a Vons in Southern California, or a Jewel-Osco in Illinois.
This is also a victory for thousands of hardworking union employees, protecting their hard-earned paychecks by ensuring Kroger and Albertsons continue to compete for workers through higher wages, better benefits, and improved working conditions.
I want to also congratulate all of the FTC staff, including the Mergers IV team, for their hard work on this case.”
— Bureau of Competition Director Henry Liu
Before the merger failure, Krogers and Albertsons had stated they need to merge to compete with Amazon and Walmart. A successful Amazon Fresh store currently operates in Arlington Heights at the former Dominick’s Finer Foods location (325 East Palatine Road) where Mariano’s founder Bob Mariano worked as a store manager before becoming the CEO of the now defunct Dominick’s Finer Foods grocer store. A new Amazon Fresh is anticipated to open at Lake Cook Road and McHenry Road by the end of 2025.
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