BELMONT CRAGIN — The first Gordon Food Service store within the city is coming to Belmont Cragin.
Gordon Food Service, a wholesale supplier of food and other supplies for restaurants, will take over the former Office Depot building at 6431 W. Fullerton Ave., according to neighborhood sources.
The new store will open on Aug. 29, according to Reid Mackin, executive director of the Belmont Central Chamber of Commerce.
"We're excited," Mackin said.
The business has already demonstrated a responsibility to the community, Mackin said. Gordon Food Service has bought five Belmont Cragin banners and has said it will sponsor community nights with the local police district as well as donate goods to a local food pantry.
Gordon Food Service will help supply local restaurants with the goods they need, Mackin said. He said the business will take care to stock ethnic foods to accommodate the area's concentration of Mexican restaurants.
The business is open to the public, even though it caters mostly to restaurant owners and operators.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) said the business will be a welcome addition to the community.
"The Gordon Foods location is the first in the city of Chicago," he said. "They're out in the suburbs, but they picked the Montclare area to develop."
The Wyoming, Michigan-based company started in 1897 by Dutch immigrants delivering butter and eggs with a horse-drawn carriage and later expanded to service restaurants and institutions. It has expanded into selling directly to consumers.
The company says it is "built firmly on biblical principals," which it describes as a stewardship model driven by "taking care of what we have been blessed with and passing it on to those who come after us."
The company touts its environmental approach, business ethics and charity donations.
The firm has some 170 stores with $12.6 billion in revenue and some 17,000 employees.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
