Mariano’s Opens In Greektown – You Helped Pay For It

An upscale Mariano’s opens in Greektown on October 30, 2012. Chicago taxpayers – you helped pay for it! They got $7 million in property taxes from Chicago’s TIF Program. Bob Mariano was on WBEZ this morning on “The Morning Shift” and got a free five minute commercial touting his store. He didn’t say why he needed or deserved millions of dollars from the public purse. His new store is across the street from a Dominick’s and Greektown is no food dessert. Roundy’s, the parent company of Mariano’s, had a second quarter profit of $268 million on net sales of $997 million. I hope the next time a greedy corporate executive that takes millions in public dollars for a private business comes on the public air waves that we own and pay for (my family has been a strong supporter of WBEZ for decades), that he or she is asked why they deserve that gift.