Dominick's owner Safeway exiting Chicago market

Safeway Inc., the owner of Dominick's Finer Foods, announced today it's getting out of Chicago.

The parent of Oak Brook-based Dominick's said in a statement it "intends to exit the Chicago market . . . by early 2014."

A Dominick's employee who did not want to be identified, but who attended a meeting today called for local employees, said he and others were given a memo from Safeway. He said the memo told workers: "One small group of stores has been sold, with details to be announced shortly. We're working to identify buyers for the remainder of the operations."

Safeway had a scheduled earnings call for 4 p.m. Chicago time, at which it's expected to further discuss the exit.

Dominick's operates 72 stores, all of which are in Illinois within a 60-mile radius of Chicago. The chain, founded in Chicago in 1918, was purchased by Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway for $1.8 billion in 1998.
Supermarkets have been working to cut costs as they fight off competition from discount and dollar stores.
Safeway also reported sharply lower third-quarter earnings today. It says net income fell 58 percent, hurt by a software impairment charge, higher theft and lower property gains.

Net income of $85.8 million, or 27 cents per share, compares with $157 million, or 66 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter. Excluding a software impairment charge, net income was 30 cents per share. Analysts expected net income of 16 cents per share. Revenue rose 1 percent to $8.62 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $8.52 billion.

Chicago: Infinium Capital cuts headcount, narrows strategy

Infinium Capital Management LLC, one of about a dozen large Chicago trading firms, cut 11 percent of its jobs last week as it eliminated trading in index-related futures contracts, according to a source familiar with the reduction.

The firm cut 20 jobs, leaving it with about 160 employees and allowing it to focus its trading strategy more narrowly. That follows Infinium's decision early last summer to scale back its workforce by 12 employees.

“We made these changes to focus our efforts on the commodity and energy areas,” Infinium Capital CEO Scott Rose said.

Infinium is among several firms that have shrunk over the past year as the city's trading industry, the world's largest with respect to options and futures contracts, grapples with lackluster volume that has crimped revenue and a rise in costs tied to higher technology and regulatory expense. Chicago, where the derivatives market was born, is home to about 85 trading firms, mainly smaller ones with fewer than 100 employees.

The move will allow Infinium to direct its resources to a smaller swath of trading and eliminate its need to be registered as a broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission because it won't be trading in equity-related assets.

Reducing regulatory exposure at a time of heightened federal scrutiny of high-speed trading firms could help the firm avoid future compliance liabilities. It has also tried to de-emphasize speed as a strategy.

Eliminating trading in the equity indices is significant for Infinium. In 2003, it became the first firm to provide electronic quotes for the E-mini, the smaller of two futures contracts that are linked to the S&P 500 stock index and one of the most popular contracts traded on CME Group Inc.'s electronic futures exchange.

In addition to energy and commodities, Infinium will continue to trade in fixed-income and foreign exchange assets.

Chicago-based Getco LLC, one of the biggest Chicago high-speed trading firms, also cut people over the past year as its profit plunged 82 percent last year to $24.6 million. It agreed in December to merge with Knight Capital Group Inc.

“The industry has matured to the point where firms that were hiring like gangbusters a few years ago are now taking a closer look at things like costs and headcount,” said Anthony Dostellio, a managing director at Chicago recruiting firm Objective Paradigm.

Chicago : Marché restaurant closing

(Crain's) — French brasserie Marché will shut down next month after a nearly a two-decade run in the West Loop.

The Randolph Street staple, which opened in 1993, will close June 13, the owners said.

"After 17 years, it's time to do something else," co-owner Jerry Kleiner said.

The decision to close was also influenced by the end of the lease at 833 W. Randolph St., said Howard Davis, an attorney who owns Marché with Mr. Kleiner.

"It's a big place and expensive to carry," Mr. Davis said. "It needed to change."

Big French brasseries may have run their course in Chicago. Old Town Brasserie closed in April after a run of 2½ years. Brasserie Ruhlman closed in October 2008 after being open for roughly a year.

Messrs. Davis and Kleiner said they are considering a new concept for the Marché space, if they can agree to new lease terms with the landlord. Mr. Kleiner, who owns 33 Club in Old Town and Carnivale in Fulton Market, declined to discuss Marché's potential replacement.

Marché was one of the early collaborations between Messrs. Davis and Kleiner. The duo later opened several more eateries under their KDK Restaurants partnership.

But the recession has hit restaurants hard. Mr. Davis shut down Le Lan in River North and Soul in Clarendon Hills last May due to a lack of diners. Le Lan had opened in 2004 and Soul debuted in 2008.

KDK continues to operate three other long-standing Chicago restaurants: Red Light in the West Loop and South Loop's Gioco and Opera