After a full year of waiting, Streeterville, Lincoln Park, West Loop and Edgewater residents will soon be able to drop a whole paycheck on groceries at the new Whole Foods locations opening in their neighborhoods. After Dominick's abruptly closed all 57 of its Chicago area stores at the end of 2013, there was some uncertainty as to what would become of the shuttered locations. However, Jewel, Mariano's, Tony's Finer Foods, Caputo & Sons and Whole Foods stepped up to the plate and took over nearly all of the Chicago stores. About this same time last year, Whole Foods has picked up the former Dominick's locations in the West Loop, Streeterville, Edgewater and Lincoln Park, and now Whole Foods has announced opening dates for all its new Chicago stores.
The new Streeterville location will be the first to open on Wednesday, January 28, followed by the DePaul location which will officially open its doors on Wednesday, February 25. Exactly a month later on March 25, the West Loop location will open and then finally on April 29, the Edgewater Whole Foods will be open for business. All of Whole Foods' new stores will feature in-store dining options in addition to its standard coffee and wine bars. The Streeterville location will also feature a raw vegan restaurant, a 12-tap bar and a natural beauty product section called Whole Body. Whole Foods is also on a hiring spree for its new Chicago stores, hiring between 100-150 people for each location.
·6 new Whole Foods stores opening in Chicago [WGN]
·Whole Foods Opening, Hiring in Streeterville [ABC 7]
·Whole Foods Lines Up Permit to Transform Former Dominick's [Curbed Chicago]
·New Chicago Whole Foods Locations Not Opening Until 2015 [Curbed Chicago]
·Dominick's Redux archives [Curbed Chicago]