John Cortesi

President and CEO Sunset Foods

Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026

Executive Summary

John Cortesi is President and CEO of Sunset Foods, the family-owned grocer that has served Chicago’s North Shore since 1937, when his family opened a 25-by-30-foot storefront in downtown Highland Park. A third-generation member of the Cortesi family, he took over as President and CEO in 2006. Sunset then had four stores. It now has seven: he opened a fifth, in Long Grove, in 2010, and in 2021 bought The Grand Food Centers in Glencoe and Winnetka, the company’s first growth by acquisition. The company says customer service has been its highest priority from the start, and it still describes itself as a neighbourhood grocery store.

Career Highlights

• President and CEO of Sunset Foods since 2006, the third generation of his family to run the business.
• Opened Sunset’s fifth store, in Long Grove, in 2010, built with a reflective solar roof membrane, recycled building products and high-efficiency heating, cooling and lighting.
• Acquired The Grand Food Centers of Glencoe and Winnetka on 13 December 2021, Sunset’s first acquisition, after 15 years with five locations.
• In 2025 pursued an eighth store at the former Mariano’s site in Northfield and won unanimous zoning commission support; negotiations with the landlord ended in early 2026 and the plan was dropped.

Professional Journey

Sunset Foods began in 1937, when John J. Cortesi and his uncle Adeodata Fontana rented a small storefront at 635 Central Avenue in Highland Park, named after the adjoining Sunset Park. Customers phoned in their orders for home delivery. In 1948 the store moved to a larger site and offered self-service shopping, which the company says many grocers had rejected. John J. was joined by his brother Otto, and together they bought out Fontana’s share. Stores followed in Northbrook in 1961 and West Lake Forest in 1965, and from 1992 the brothers began handing management to the next generation: Bill Cortesi, Richard Cortesi and Ron Cizzon. A Libertyville store opened in 1998.

John E. Cortesi became President and CEO in 2006. His first major project was the Long Grove store, opened in 2010, which the company calls its “most ambitious”. It was designed around green building features: a reflective solar roof membrane, recycled building products and high-efficiency systems throughout.

Sunset kept five stores for the next 15 years. On 13 December 2021 it bought The Grand Food Centers, independents in Glencoe, dating from 1953, and Winnetka, from 1963, whose co-owners, Dan Klebba and Kevin Salus, were retiring after 40 years in the grocery business. The purchase took Sunset to seven stores.

In July 2025 Sunset announced plans to take over the former Mariano’s store at 1822 Willow Road in Northfield, which would have been its eighth location. Cortesi told Northfield’s Plan & Zoning Commission, which unanimously approved the company’s special use requests in August 2025, that the interior needed substantial work and that construction would likely take most of 2026. He said the store would employ around 100 people. In February 2026 The Record North Shore reported that negotiations with the property owner, Swanson Development Group, had ceased and Sunset was no longer pursuing the site.

Education

No education record was found in any first-party or press source.