March 7th, 2014 4:46 PM

By Timothy Inklebarger

Staff Reporter

Chicago Ald. Deborah Graham confirmed that Sears is in talks with Roundy's Inc. to open a Mariano's grocery store at the high-traffic intersection of Harlem and North in Chicago.

She said in a telephone interview Friday that she has met with "all parties involved" in the last few days to discuss a potential deal.

"It is far too early in the talks to really be discussing a lot of details around it," Graham said.

Graham noted that Roundy's is not the only business looking at the site. She declined to speculate on how long it could be before a deal is complete.

"There are a lot of people courting Sears, and they are a long way from locking in with Mariano's," she said.

An unnamed source tells Wednesday Journal that Sears is considering a number of options for redevelopment of the location.

"I've heard they are giving Mariano's the ground floor, and Sears takes the upper floors and the basement," the source said. "The idea is that each operation would build traffic for the other."

Another possibility, the source revealed, is Mariano's building a freestanding structure in the Sears parking lot.

"What I heard is Sears is weighing a variety of options," the source stated.

Contact: tim@oakpark.com