Whole Foods "mega-shopolis" opens in Chicago
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 11:51PM 
The first thing I heard after walking through the doors of the new Whole Foods grocery store in Chicago was one cashier remark to another, "This place is too big." The 75,000 square-foot store that opened in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood yesterday is the third largest Whole Foods in the word, behind only the London outpost and the Austin, TX headquarters.
The public radio program Marketplace refers to it as a "mega-shopolis," and with a live music stage, a riverwalk with outdoor seating, and a handful of in-store eateries, it's a foodie's amusement park, but I couldn't help but agree with that cashier. It is just a little too big for my taste.
The bulk section has grown a bit, but the produce section looked pretty standard for Whole Foods. In fact, it's hard to tell how this store is even an improvement on the organic and local fronts. Like all Whole Foods, Chicago's new store stocks some local produce, and the store's website lists 12 Midwestern farms from which they buy produce -- six of which are organic.
Here are a few photos I took at the store last night. To view some images of the bread-breaking ceremony with Mayor Daley and CEO John Mackey, check out Flickr user JOE M500's photostream.
-Mark
Reader Comments (3)
Wow, they let you take pictures? Did you have a press pass? Last time Johnny was in the store and he tried taking artsy pictures of produce with a cellphone camera, an employee reprimanded him and told him to stop because picture-taking was not allowed inside Whole Foods!
I've been scolded for taking photos in grocery stores before too, but yesterday they didn't seem to mind. I took out the camera and started snapping photos right in front of security guards, and they didn't even flinch.
I'm unaware of Whole Food efforts outside of providing decent and organic produce and packaged foods, but I would really like to see if they strive for any great deal of energy efficiency in a huge big-box like this. Public knowledge of their building and energy use practices, not just the purchase of renewable energy REC's or such, would be good to see.