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Working Lunch

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

It's lunchtime, Chicago.

Six months after a failed merger with Albertsons ended the prospects of an arranged marriage with Jewel, Mariano’s is closing three suburban Chicago grocery stores as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative by parent company Kroger.

The stores, in Buffalo Grove, Glenview and Bloomingdale, are set to shutter in August, reducing Mariano’s 44-store retail footprint by 7%, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Advocate Health Care can proceed with a plan to replace Advocate Trinity Hospital with a new, much smaller hospital on the South Side of Chicago, state regulators decided Tuesday, after more than a dozen community members and leaders spoke out in support of the project.

Read that story and more in today's Working Lunch.

Top business stories | Real estate | Transportation

Mariano’s closing 3 suburban grocery stores as part of broader Kroger downsizing

At the same time, Mariano’s is remodeling a number of stores in the 15-year-old chain, whose future seemed uncertain just last year.

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Plan to replace Advocate Trinity Hospital with new, smaller hospital on South Side gets state approval

Some Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board members expressed concern about the new hospital’s smaller size.

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Not lovin’ it: McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme doughnuts end partnership

Krispy Kreme said demand for its doughnuts at McDonald’s wasn’t strong enough to recoup its costs.

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Effort to require Chicago businesses to install security cameras gets pushback

Several sponsoring aldermen who say they misunderstood the ordinance at first are now backing away from it.

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Fed Chair Jerome Powell says rate cut on hold even as Trump demands it

The Federal Reserve will continue to wait and see how the economy evolves before deciding whether to reduce its key interest rate, Powell said Tuesday, a stance directly at odds with the president’s calls for immediate cuts.

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Layoffs from Trump’s tariffs ripple across auto-parts industry

Trump’s shifting stances on trade and tariffs have upended the planning of many companies that provide parts and equipment to big automakers.

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