Grocery Store Job Fair Lures Hundreds of Applicants

An hour into the second day of an employment fair for positions at the soon-to-open Tony's Finer Foods, anywhere from 700 to 900 people had already put in applications for 200 mostly part-time jobs.

Given that the line waiting to do the same wrapped around the interior entrance of the 2300 Route 59 store, it's a safe bet the number easily exceeded 1,000 by the time the doors shut at 8 p.m. Wednesday. And that doesn't include the folks who will complete applications online.

The number didn't surprise Daniela Marnos, a corporate supervisor and daughter of owner Tony Ingraffia. She said they had even more when they opened their Niles store in December 2010.

Most of the applicants were from the Joliet-Plainfield-Shorewood area, and it's a safe bet that mostly local people will be tapped to fill the jobs, Marnos said. Only the management will be from elsewhere, likely promoted from one of the company's eight other stores in the Chicago area, she said.

As to when they'll filling those jobs, it all depends on how quickly they can complete the interior remodel of the store, which is located in Joliet but has a Plainfield mailing address, she said. It will either be right before the end of the year or possibly in the early part of the new year, Marnos said.

Tony's Finer Foods was established in 1979, and is based in Itasca. The Joliet store is going in where the former Strack & Van Til store was located.