What's Mariano's without Mariano?

A lot more like Kroger. Since founder Bob Mariano retired two years ago, the upscale Chicago-area grocery chain has come to resemble the midmarket stores of its Cincinnati-based owner, which acquired Mariano's parent company for $800 million in 2015.

Mariano stayed on after the deal as CEO, promising his namesake stores wouldn't change under the largest U.S. grocery chain. Industry experts now say Mariano's is losing the distinctive offerings and high-end flourishes that set it apart from traditional grocery chains. Gone are the numerous on-site dining options and easy-to-use coupon system. In their place are more Kroger-branded items, an increase in self-checkout lanes and new pre-made meal kits that haven't clicked with customers.

"The agility and close-to-the-market merchandising skills that made Mariano's special in Chicago has gone away," says Bill Bishop, chief architect at Brick Meets Click, a retail consultancy. "The most recent example is a new meal kit. . . .It wasn't what I would call artfully presented. It used a lot of packaging. The product wasn't very attractive. Under the old regime, they would not have introduced something as out of sync."

Many of the changes reflect Kroger's efforts to boost profitability and meet a new challenge from Amazon, which in 2017 acquired Whole Foods, a rival to Mariano's in the premium grocery market. Mariano's changing profile also reflects the influence of former parent company Roundy's, a Milwaukee-based operator of low-end stores like Pick 'n Save.

For a while after Kroger took over, the Milwaukee and Chicago chains continued to operate autonomously, with former Mariano lieutenants Don Rosanova and Don Fitzgerald overseeing the Mariano's stores. That changed in September 2018 when Kroger consolidated leadership teams in the Wisconsin-based unit in a cost-cutting move. Fitzgerald and Rosanova were both gone by year-end.

"If there hadn't been the pressure from Milwaukee, the business could have been run better," Bishop says. "They are subject to the budgetary pressures of the folks in Cincinnati."

"Mariano's continues to innovate and lead in this space, and the larger Kroger organization is bringing elements of our programs into other banners to accelerate their Restock Kroger initiatives," a Mariano's spokeswoman says.