Chicago Tribune | Supermarkets sit empty as deeds block new grocers

Here's a use of restrictive covenants that you don't encounter every day:

When the Dominick's store in West Lawn closed last spring, ending more than two decades in the Southwest Side neighborhood, residents expected another grocer to quickly fill the void. A year later, however, the 54,000-square-foot building remains vacant, and neighborhood residents who once walked to the store now take buses or beg rides to full-line grocery stores miles away. Pete's Market, a local grocery chain, wanted to take over the space. But Dominick's has blocked Pete's and every other grocer from using the space inside an aging shopping plaza by placing a restriction in the deed that bars grocery stores. Restrictive covenants have been a common tactic in the grocery industry, used to thwart competition and control markets. Records show that two North Side properties that used to house Dominick's groceries carry the same restrictions. But across the nation, community groups and elected officials are beginning to cry foul, saying restrictive covenants not only hurt business competition but punish whole neighborhoods.