Whole Foods' opening a celebration for Englewood community

A Whole Foods Market promised to the beleaguered South Side Englewood community finally opened on Wednesday, with a daylong celebration featuring healthy food, music and revelry.

The store, which some called a social experiment, threw open its doors after lengthy speeches on an outdoor stage by politicians, as well as the corporate and community leaders who were involved from the beginning.

"What was here before was just barren land. They saw the promise of Kennedy-King, the city's school of culinary hospitality, as an anchor of the talent, the entrepreneurship and the capacity to build this store," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said of Whole Foods and its co-CEO, Walter Robb, who led the effort.

The 18,000-square-foot store, the result of community collaboration, will have products from more than 35 residents of Englewood and surrounding communities on its shelves. Most of its 100 employees live in the neighborhood.

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