Whole Foods Market plans to open a small grocery in the Logan Square neighborhood near the CTA Blue Line’s California Avenue stop.
A company spokesperson said Whole Foods Market signed a lease for the 10,000-square-foot building at 2280 N. Milwaukee Ave., a former Family Dollar store. No additional details were available, including a possible opening date, she said.
Crain’s Chicago Business first reported the lease.
The small-store format is part of a national strategy to introduce Whole Foods Market into new neighborhoods, according to a company news release. The Austin-based company has already opened several small stores, including in New York City and Virginia, and signed leases for several more, including one in the landmark Home Bank and Trust Company Building at 1200 N. Ashland Ave. in Wicker Park.
Amazon purchased Whole Foods Market in 2017.
Whole Foods Market already has nearly a dozen Chicago locations, and a big presence on the North Side. Its flagship store at 1550 N. Kingsbury St. in Lincoln Park totals about 80,000 square feet. The grocer also recently announced plans to open in the former Treasure Island supermarket at 1639 N. Wells St. in Old Town.
The switch to Whole Foods Market at 2280 N. Milwaukee Ave. may illustrate a shift in Logan Square’s demographics. Luxury apartment towers such as MiCA Apartments and L Logan Square Apartments now line Milwaukee Avenue, and new retailers are moving in to serve recently arrived residents.
Family Dollar, which shuttered in 2023, provided the neighborhood with low-cost goods, while Whole Foods Market is best known as a high-end grocer specializing in natural and organic foods.
But a grocery store is a welcome addition to Logan Square, according to a spokesperson for Ald. Daniel La Spata, 1st. The alderman’s office has heard from neighbors for years about the need for grocery stores near this L stop, the spokesperson said.