(Above) Northeast corner of Jewel-Osco from across Ohio Street. (Click on image to view larger version.)

August 21, 2013 – A $215,000 renovation project at North State Street’s busy Jewel-Osco should be finished before the year-end holidays start.

Long aisles have been broken up, providing more space for an increasing River North population of grocery shoppers. According to Allison Sperling, communications manager for Jewel-Osco, improvements include a new deli, bakery, salad bar, juice bar, produce displays, liquor displays, fish and meat area, and new canopies over windows on State and Ohio Streets.

Most notably, the revolving door entrance on State Street will move to the corner of State and Ohio Streets. Inside the store, a customer service counter and seats will line the windows overlooking State Street.

A redesigned check-stand is intended to be, says Sperling, “customer service friendly” although it does have a noticeably smaller area on which to place groceries.

Although she declined to quantify, Sperling says the 176-store supermarket chain, owned by New Albertsons, Inc. and based in the Chicago suburb of Itasca, is “definitely seeing more foot traffic in our stores.”

“Our goal is for the community to feel like it is their marketplace to shop,” said Sperling on Wednesday, “and have a sense of community within the store itself.”

A building permit for the renovation was issued on July 26. Parkway Forming Inc., of South Elgin, is the general contractor.