OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Dominick's will close 14 money-losing stores by April, while proceeding with plans to renovate 20 stores and build at least one new store during 2007, the retailer here said Friday. Dominick's said that Safeway, its Pleasanton, Calif.-based parent company, would incur lease exit costs associated with the closures but that those costs would be offset by the elimination of operating losses and unrelated real estate gains. "These are necessary steps that will position Dominick's business for success and expansion in Chicagoland," Don Keprta, president of Dominick's, said in a statement. The company said it would operate 83 stores after the closures, and that more than half its stores would be renovated to Safeway's "lifestyle" format by year-end.
