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Englewood Whole Foods Is Already Hiring, A Year Before Opening

By Andrea V. Watson | July 24, 2015 7:30am | Updated on July 24, 2015 9:55am
 Whole Foods Market plans to open a new store in Englewood across the street from Kennedy-King College in 2016.
Whole Foods Market plans to open a new store in Englewood across the street from Kennedy-King College in 2016.
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Whole Foods Market

ENGLEWOOD — Nearly a year before it plans to open, the Englewood Whole Foods Market is already hiring.

The national retailer, which plans to open the 18,000-square-foot store by next summer, is looking to fill a community nutrition educator position, which would start on Oct. 1. Keith Stewart, executive marketing coordinator for the chain’s Midwest region said that the job posting is already online, but it closes July 31.

The full-time position will require the employee to be responsible for organizing, promoting and facilitating various nutrition outreach and education events. More information can be found online.

A second position, which will be posted next week, is a community liaison. The requirements are simple, Stewart said: “They need to have a passion for the Englewood community,” he said. “They need to understand the community and know how to bring people together, but passion is No. 1.”

There will be about 100 available jobs for the Englewood store and Stewart said there will be job fairs and open hiring calls to ensure they're getting people from the community.

The 18,000-square-foot store announced earlier this month that it is bringing a Starbucks to the corner of 63rd and Halsted streets. Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives’ president David Doig said he’s excited for the development.

It might not look like much has been done on the 13-acre development, but Doig said that construction is on schedule, and there haven’t been any delays. He said the curbs have been put in place, parking lot lights are up and the pavement is laid.

“This week we’ll be finishing up the site work and then I’d say starting in August you’ll see the building start to go up,” he said. “You’ll see a lot of site work going on.”

The next step is "vertical construction," he said: "So the bricks, concrete, all of that will start to go up."

The market will offer its "365 value products," so that means lower prices on Whole Foods’ items, Stewart said.

He said that Whole Foods will continue to work with the Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation and the entire Englewood community to help bring more products by local entrepreneurs onto the shelves. In January, Rachel Bernier-Green's baked goods were chosen to be sold in the new store.

The store is slated to open in June or July of 2016, Doig said.

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