It wasn’t too long ago when the outlook for Chicago grocery could politely be called ‘uncertain,’ with the shuttering of Dominick’s 72 stores at the end of 2013 as the most visible sign of this. But that picture is changing, says Peter Caruso of JLL.

What’s the current state of the Chicagoland grocery landscape?

Peter Caruso says: Extremely competitive! As competition in the grocery arena continues to increase, supermarkets are generally seeing razor-thin margins, and staying profitable will continue to be a challenge. That being said, the supermarkets that will be most successful are those that find a strong value proposition. The grocery store market is fierce in Chicago, and split between the everyman stores, the independent grocers, discount grocers and lastly the organic/natural neighborhood markets.

We’re seeing grocery stores like Pete’s, Caputo’s and Tony’s really break down the neighborhood by its demographics and make sure that the product being carried in the store represents what their studies find. This has helped them build consumer loyalty and become the leading grocer in a trade area over the “everyman store.” Despite competition, the upside is that everyone has to eat and with food costs skyrocketing, more and more families are opting to stay home and cook.

For more information on the national grocery sector, and three reasons why the grocery landscape is shifting read JLL’s recent Out with the Old, In with the New Report or visit http://bit.ly/JLLgrocery. Read more about Chicago’s grocery landscape in Globest.com