Dom's Kitchen and Market, Six Months In
A chat with co-founder Jay Owen about one of the year's biggest hits
Dom’s Kitchen and Market, Six Months In
When you open an innovative food retail concept and within six months you’re being touted by real estate agents as a reason to move into your community, you might just be an instant success.
This is happening for Dom’s Kitchen and Market, the combo on-trend grocery store, food court and high-class convenience store located at 2730 N. Halsted St. on the Lincoln Park-Lakeview border. According to Dom’s Chairman Jay Owen, this turned up as the company has been doing site location for a second store expected to open in early 2022.
“We're a very attractive tenant for landlords. They see us as an amenity,” Owen said. “We've noticed that just with store 1, residential real estate brokers now advertise that a home or an apartment is close to Dom's. I think it speaks to the power of the brand. We're finding ourselves seeing an awful lot of attractive locations that we weren't necessarily seeing before people really knew who we were and what the brand was.”
This phenomenon may have real estate folks and chambers of commerce in other parts of this area thinking “Pick Us,” as the location announcement for store #2 is anticipated within the next few weeks.
The attractively designed store — which replaced a dowdy strip shopping plaza — was intended to be a magnet for the immediate community (I live about a mile away and am a regular customer). But Owen said the biggest surprise after the store’s grand opening June 8 was that people were traveling some distances to check it out and, in many cases, become regulars.
“This is a destination for them,” he said.
Dom’s loyalty points program has also produced enlightening data, as the management team learns from this prototype store in its planning for expansion. “Our best customers are here three to four times a week, they're spending a lot of time and money in the store. It's great for us to be able to see that and also understand what those customers need and what they're looking for. So that's been gratifying,” Owen said.
The product mix is being constantly tweaked, both to address the desires of its consumers and the supply side chain challenges that plague businesses of all kinds as the COVID pandemic drags on for almost two full years.
Dom’s has a bit of an advantage overcoming supply chain gridlock in its relationships with suppliers and distributors, as its leadership has massive experience in the grocery business. Owen is the grandson of Dominick DiMatteo, creator of the late and lamented Dominick’s supermarket chain; co-founder Bob Mariano is a former Dominick’s CEO who gave his last name to Mariano’s supermarkets when he was CEO of Milwaukee-based Roundy’s; and CEO Donald G. Fitzgerald is a grocery veteran who worked with Mariano at Dominick’s, Roundy’s and Mariano’s.
But the store’s dedication to customer service may be its secret sauce in building its customer base. Employees working the floor, behind counters and at checkout are encouraged to develop personal rapport with customers. “We've really only turned over about 25 percent of our employees, which is way, way better than a typical store or restaurant,” Owen said. “A lot of familiar faces and I think our customers recognize that now. They have their favorite barista and they have their favorite cheesemonger or fishmonger. And it's those relationships that definitely play into our strategy of becoming your local neighborhood market.”
I mentioned that I frequently take the opportunity to chat with Eric at the fresh fish counter. Owen responded, “He's passionate about seafood. He knows what he's talking about. He's constantly teaching himself about the business and then in turn teaching our customers…There are some varieties of fish and seafood that require some education, and having somebody who really understands it has been enormously helpful for us.”
While Dom’s carries mostly national brands with a heavy emphasis on clean-label products, there is a significant local presence in both the food and adult beverage aisles. There are about two dozen local brands in stock that I know personally from my work with FamilyFarmed and Naturally Chicago.
“It gives the entrepreneur a platform to be able to come in and talk directly to the customer,” Owen said. “So when you're here in the evenings and weekends, you see a lot of sampling going on. You see a lot of interaction going on around product. And we really celebrate that in the store. So we're constantly looking for ways to create that local connection across all parts of the store.”
For convenience-minded customers, Dom’s just last week introduced home delivery through DoorDash for the Kitchen and its variety of prepared meals (including a recently introduced taqueria). But for the Market (groceries and grab-and-go), customers’ options are in-store and curbside pickup; a full-on e-commerce platform with delivery is not expected before mid-2022.
This could make Dom’s first Chicago winter potentially challenging, especially given that its business strategy is to get customers in the house and engaging with both the Kitchen and the Market. But Owen expresses confidence that the buzz the store has created through the warmer seasons will carry over to the big chill.
“Even when it's not great out, hopefully we become somewhat of an oasis from that to come in and enjoy a glass of wine with a friend, or a meal. It becomes an activity even when it's cold and not so nice out,” Owen said. After all, he added, “People still have to eat even when it's cold out.”
Click here and here for June articles about Dom’s opening.
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