Mariano's CEO Will Retire in September But Still Work as Adviser

Bob Mariano, the man behind the Chicago-area grocery store chain that bares his name, will retire in September as CEO of Roundy's, that chain's parent company.

Mariano, however, will stay on with company as a strategic consultant and adviser for the next two years, according to a release from The Kroger Co., which purchased Roundy's from Mariano for $800 million in November.

"Bob has been a tremendous leader for Roundy's and the entire supermarket industry. … The entire Kroger and Roundy's family extends our best wishes to Bob and his family in retirement," Kroger's CEO and chairman Rodney McMullen said in a statement.

The supermarket business has been a lifelong pursuit for Mariano, who started as a part-time deli clerk at a Chicago Dominick's in 1967. He eventually worked his way up that company's corporate ladder to become CEO in 1995.

In 2002, Mariano—who lived in Inverness but told the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday that he and his wife currently reside in the Chicago's Streetville neighborhood—became the CEO of Wisconsin-based Roundy's Supermarkets, and eight years later, he created what McMullen called the centerpiece of Mariano's career: the Mariano's Fresh Market chain of high-end stores.

The first Mariano's opened in 2010 in Arlington Heights. Locations in the chain feature the items and atmosphere of an upscale grocer, such as in-store restaurants, sushi offerings and other amenities. But the stores are aimed at middle-class shoppers. Currently, there are 34 locations in the Chicago area.

PHOTO: Bob Mariano (center) during March's private ribbon-cutting grand opening for a new Mariano's Fresh Market in Westmont. (Morgan Searles | Patch)

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