Whole Foods Market will open a new 36,234-square-foot store June 25 at 300 S. 2nd Street in St. Charles, Illinois.
The location’s product assortment will feature more than 650 products from the Midwest, sourced with the help of Margie Omastiak, forager for local and emerging brands at Whole Foods Market.
Opening morning, customers will receive free coffee from Big Shoulders Coffee, mini-waffles from Evergreen and snack bars from Undressed. The first 300 shoppers will receive a custom tote bag and Secret Saver coupon with offers up to $100 off.
In addition, Whole Foods Market will provide a food donation to HCS Family Services, which makes regular surplus food pickups from the grocer’s stores to help prevent food waste and serve the surrounding community.
Whole Foods Market also will donate an all-electric refrigerated van to the nonprofit. Both donations are part of the company’s Nourishing Our Neighborhoods program, which aims to enhance the ability of local food rescue organizations to transport surplus food to areas facing the greatest need.
The grocer also will make monetary donations to area organizations Lazarus House and Fox Valley Food for Health.
Whole Foods Market also will present Chicago-based supplier Evergreen with a low-interest loan through the Whole Foods Market Lending Program, to help grow its operations and support expansion.
To date, the retailer has provided 419 loans, representing about $35.7 million in capital for recipients.
Features of the new St. Charles store include:
- An array of certified organic, conventional and Sourced for Good local offerings, including cilantro from Harmony Valley Farm, Windy City crunch salad from Gotham Greens and cherry on the vine tomato from Mighty Vine.
- Specialty department dedicated to celebrating cheesemakers and artisan producers. Local items include citrus Gochujang candied pecans from Fortune Favors and spicy nduja from Tempesta Artisan Salami. The department also features a cheese counter overseen by trained cheesemongers.
- Curated grocery section filled with exclusive brand favorites and local products, including pasta meals from Lazy Food Co., frozen waffles from Evergreen and seaweed snacks from Geem.
- Full-service seafood counter featuring only sustainable wild-caught or Responsibly Farmed seafood and a large selection of pre-seasoned and marinated ready-to-cook items. Local options include fresh rainbow trout, rainbow trout spread and salmon spread from Rushing Waters Fisheries.
- Full-service meat counter, with butchers available to cut steaks and poultry to order. Features include in-house dry-aged meat selections and made in-house sausage. Local options include boneless skinless chicken breast from Pine Manor Farms and chicken meatballs, burgers and sausage from Amylu Foods.
- Extensive selection of more than 240 craft beers, 180 spirits and 555 wines. Local options include Right Bee Cider, Dovetail Brewery and Judson & Moore.
- A Prepared Foods department featuring fresh pizza, rotisserie chicken, made-to-order sandwiches and sushi made fresh daily from Kikka.
- Bakery department offering made-in-house bread as well as everyday favorites, such as Whole Foods Market’s Berry Chantilly Cake and Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. The department also carries a wide variety of special diet items. Local offerings include bread varieties from Sweet Ali’s, Defloured Bakery and Treasure Breads, Inc.
- Whole Body department with a large assortment of wellness, beauty and lifestyle items. Local products include candles from Bright Endeavors, Kobo Candles and Kalamazoo Candles.
All food at Whole Foods Market must meet the company’s Quality Standards, which prohibit hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup and more than 300 flavors, colors, sweeteners and other ingredients commonly found in food. In addition, all beauty and body care products must meet its body care standards, which ban more than 240 commonly used ingredients, including phthalates, parabens and microbeads.
For more information, please visit https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/stcharles.
About Whole Foods Market
Founded in 1980, Austin-based Whole Foods Market was the first certified organic national grocer in the United States. Part of Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores, it has more than 535 locations across the U.S., Canada and UK.
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