Presto chango, it's a Jewel-Osco store

Watch for Jewel-Osco to make quick work of converting four Dominick’s stores it bought from Safeway.

Crain’s Chicago Business reports the stores will close at 5 p.m. Sunday and re-open under the Jewel-Osco flag on Thursday. The quick-change is happening at two stores in Chicago — 1340 S. Canal St. and 2550 N. Clybourn Ave. — and one store each in Glenview and Homer Glen.

The 450 employees of these stores were offered jobs with Jewel, a company spokeswoman said.

While Jewel-Osco last month said it wasn’t looking to buy more Dominick’s stores, the spokeswoman tells Crain’s the grocery chain “will continue to evaluate any future opportunities that arise.”

Most of Dominick’s 72 stores closed at the end of December after parent company Safeway decided to pull the brand out of the Chicago market. Mariano’s has bought 11 of the stores. Whole Foods Market is said to interested in seven stores. A group affiliated with Central Grocers Inc. is sizing up as many as 10 vacant stores, and Pete’s Fresh Market has its eye on an Oak Park store and a handful of others.