Whole Foods Market on Sunday closed its location in Chicago's Englewood community six years after opening the grocery store to great fanfare.
The grocery store chain in May announced the South Side store was among six planned closures nationwide, including a second at Chicago's DePaul University campus.
At the time, city officials criticized the company's decision to pull out of the South Side location, including Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who called the move "disappointing."
"My immediate worry is for the workers in both locations. Amazon must now take clear steps to protect those workers as they transition to new opportunities," Lightfoot said in a statement in May. "Having been in both of those stores many times over the years, I saw first-hand how those workers gave their heart and soul to make the stores a success. Together with both communities and local elected leaders, my administration will work to repurpose these locations in a way that continues to serve the community and support the surrounding businesses. We as a city will continue to work hard to close food deserts that meet community needs with community at the table.”
The 18,000-square-foot Englewood store, at 832 W. 63rd Street, opened in 2016 with relentless push from then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, amid concerns about whether residents of the impoverished South Side ward could afford to shop there. It required a nearly $11 million city subsidy for site preparation.
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