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Guess who’s coming to dinner?

Image courtesy of Ezra Gregg/ DC Central Kitchen/Flickr

Image courtesy of Ezra Gregg/ DC Central Kitchen/Flickr


Everyone’s favorite bougie grocer is coming to Englewood.
 
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Wednesday that the Whole Foods grocery store chain– known for its organic selection and high quality foods– will be opening a location at 63rd and Halsted St. in Englewood, not exactly a neighborhood known for Lululemon’s and Starbucks. The decision was the result of longstanding negotiations between Chicago and Whole Foods as part of the City’s initiative to eliminate food deserts in the inner-city, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. So far, the reaction is mixed, although mostly positive: Whole Foods, at the very least, promises to bring the option of fresh and healthy foods to an area in which corner stores and McDonald’s far outpace the availability of grocery stores or other healthy choices.
But then there is the elephant in the room, the big question: Will Englewood residents be able to afford it?
 
DNAinfo Chicago conducted an interesting cost comparison between Whole Foods prices for food staples and the prices of a nearby Aldi.  Big take-away: Whole Foods is expensive (some examples: $2.99 to $.89 for eggs, $3.49 to $1.29 for bread).
 
With that said, in my opinion (and I’d be glad to hear from anyone who knows more about the situation), it’s not going to hurt. In another neighborhood, Whole Foods could signify real peril– a symbol of gentrification that threatens to out-price and push out longstanding residents. But that is not the case in Englewood. Whole Foods is not putting anything out of business, because practically no other options for fresh or organic foods exist. The chain is not setting up shop there because it sees a growing affluent market, but rather is coming as a product of intensive negotiations with the City.  It is  not the sign of a changing neighborhood, but rather a potential agent of change in the neighborhood that has the highest incidence of diabetes-related mortality, according to the City of Chicago Department of Health & Human Services.
 
Or, at least, that’s what we can assume Emanuel hopes. Whether or not this will work is another story, but the old “something is better than nothing” adage may apply here.
 
I’d love to hear more from folks in the comments– I’m no expert on this subject, myself, and am open to others’ interpretations.

Published: by Megan Carlson

One Response

  1. Brian McKissick says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:03 am

    Whole Foods progressive agenda and business model seem perfectly aligned to address the struggles of Englewood. To get an idea of whether what is typically regarded as an elitist grocer can survive in a place like Englewood, look to Detroit. Whole Foods recently became the only national grocery retailer in the city when they opened a store in the Midtown neighborhood this summer. To be clear, Midtown Detroit is not Englewood. While the neighborhood is blighted, there is a major university and new upscale residential/commercial development. However, areas adjacent to Midtown have similar challenges as Englewood. Despite this fact and some cynical predictions, the store has exceeded sales expectations since opening.

    What makes the Englewood proposal particularly exciting is the city’s plan for creating an urban farm district on the south side to include Englewood. This could in effect create a micro neighborhood economy based on urban agriculture and healthy food. However, the price-point of Whole Foods is something that will definitely need to be addressed. Executives promise to be mindful of price with this store, but I think they’ll need to go further. Whole Foods should follow Panera Bread, which has created a series of bakery-cafés called ‘Panera Cares’. They give suggested prices on all items but encourage customers to pay what they can afford. Since Whole Foods operates on a high cost, high margin model, this could work. Its regular affluent stores could subsidize any shortfalls the Englewood store faces. While this may not be good business, it could validate Whole Foods as being a socially and environmentally progressive retailer. Whatever Whole Foods decides, the success of this store will ultimately lay in its ability to engage a very different demographic then it typically does. There is a lot riding on the success of this store, and it could serve as a model for other impoverished food-poor communities across the country.

    http://grist.org/food/chicago-urban-ag-farm-district-could-be-the-biggest-in-the-nation/

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