Whole Foods Markets newest location is Chicago's Englewood.
According to the Huffington Post, the 18,000-square-foot store is expected to be completed in 2016, and bring in roughly 100 jobs. The new market is in hoped of erasing the area's reputation as a crime-ridden food desert.
"Let's be honest, a lot of people in parts of the city feel like they never get these top-quality choices," Mayor Rahm Emanuel told CBS Chicago. "I want to make sure, if you operate in the city of Chicago, you operate in all our neighborhoods, in all parts of our city, and you give everybody a shot at great quality."
Emanuel said the store will be part of the Washburne Culinary Institute at nearby Kennedy-King College. The new location will be at 63rd and Halsted streets, across from Kennedy-King College.
According to the Huffington Post, Emanuel reportedly asked Whole Foods to come to Englewood and the city has pledged an unspecified amount of TIF money from the Chicago Neighborhoods Now program.
Whole Foods, known for their premium prices and healthy stock food, entry into the neighborhood is causing some concerns. The Chicago's Englewood Whole Foods will have lower prices than the other 18 Chicago-area locations, according to WBEZ.
"It's been our purpose to bring healthier foods to the world," said Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb according to the Sun-Times. "We realize it's probably a stretch in your readers' minds. But so what? Stretch is good."
Whole Foods opened its first Detroit store in the city's Midtown neighborhood earlier this summer and has reportedly made a profit. Several area business owners were unhappy Whole Foods received $5.8 million of tax credits and local and state grants.
"We've tried to put the community first in this effort," Robb said. "I know that we're learning as much as we're giving. Not only are we going after the affordability and the accessibility, we're going after these hard issues. Because we're going after elitism, we're going after racism. Detroit's 90 percent African-American."
