Joliet grocer questions $1 million city incentives for new supermarket

A deal providing a $1 million-plus incentive package to a Hispanic supermarket chain has put a bad taste in the mouth of at least one local grocer.

“I don’t mind the competition. There’s always competition,” said Ariel Sanchez, whose father opened Supermercado Joliet in 1996.

Sanchez, who counts four other independent Hispanic grocers in the immediate vicinity, said he would not have minded a more mainstream grocer in the neighborhood.

“I would have gladly accepted a Target, an Aldi – a different market,” Sanchez said.

But the tax incentives go to El Guero, a Hispanic supermarket chain that has six stores in the Chicago region and is likely to seek the same customers who Sanchez and other small Hispanic grocers depend on for their livelihood.

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday approved the incentive package.

The incentives include 15 years of sales tax rebates valued at $890,000, property tax abatements worth $78,000 and $100,000 in grant money.

Joliet city officials have said the East Side area where El Guero will open meets federal standards for a food desert. However, Sanchez said he sees the area as a “saturated market” for Hispanic grocers.

Sanchez made a plea to the council before the vote to reconsider.

“The City Council should consider helping existing businesses on the East Side expand their product selection instead of bringing in a large chain,” Sanchez said.

The council voted, 8-0, for the incentives without further discussion.

However, Economic Development Director Steve Jones did respond to Sanchez’s concerns.

Jones said the incentive package for El Guero is “something that’s not normal for Joliet,” but does reflect “the unique needs of that community.”

El Guero will fill a spot at 118 E. Jackson St. vacated when Certified Warehouse Foods shut down in April 2017.

The closing of that store and another Certified Warehouse Foods at
1225 Richards St. generated calls for a replacement supermarket for the East Side of Joliet.

Jones said the city has searched for users beyond supermarkets. Save-A-Lot Food Stores and Aldi showed interest in the Jackson Street store, he added.

But in the end, only El Guero was willing to move forward on a deal for the Jackson Street store.

The former Certified store on Richards Street is being converted into a drug rehabilitation center.

On Jackson Street, El Guero will renovate the 36,000-square-foot grocery store and an additional
19,000 square feet of adjacent space.

“This isn’t just a grocery store. This is, in effect, a shopping center,” Jones said, adding that El Guero is upgrading the neighborhood.

“Just driving by, this looks like an abandoned property for all practical purposes,” he said.

El Guero has estimated its costs for the project at $5.8 million.

Alicia Morales, a Joliet Junior College Board member at the council meeting, warned, however, that what the city gains from incentivizing El Guero on Jackson Street it could lose because of the effect on neighboring grocers.

“They’re going to feel the loss. They really are,” Morales said.

Jones later said that city officials did not discuss the effect of El Guero with existing store owners.

However, he said the incentives were created for the property and were available “for anyone who wanted to put a business there.”

El Guero, which also has a store in Crest Hill, plans to open on Jackson Street in summer 2020.