Friday, September 30, 2016

VIDEO: Whole Foods Englewood and Starbucks Grand Opening

[VIDEO] JP Paulus was at the grand opening of the new Whole Foods Market Englewood on Wednesday morning. Hopefully he'll be ready to share his thoughts on this historic and exciting occasion at the intersection of 63rd & Halsted.

There are a few shots shared on ig regarding the grand opening provided by this blogger. Unfortunately I didn't get there in time for the grand opening and arrived just as the rain got heavier.

In the meanwhile, artistmac was there to shoot 33 minutes of video of the grand opening. He did this previously with the opening of Walmart stores in West Chatham and Pullman also. He was also there for the ground breaking at Englewood Square which took place in 2014.

Anyone else visited the store on the first day? How was your experience on the first day? Will the Englewood shop be your store in the future?

DISCLOSURE: One of the bloggers here at The Sixth Ward is a Whole Foods Market team member.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Also opening tomorrow in Englewood

DNAinfo/Kelly Bauer
The Starbuck's will be on the same property as the new Whole Foods Market Englewood at 63rd & Halsted. Two big grand openings at the center of the former Englewood shopping district and we get some huge revivals. Here's hoping this is only the beginning. 

In the meanwhile DNA Info discusses the new Starbuck's:
Starbucks will open its first store in Englewood the same day Whole Foods opens its doors to the community.

The store has joined the grocer in Englewood Square and will open at 5 a.m. Wednesday at 806 W. 63rd St.

The 2,200-square-foot store can seat up to 41 people with a room that will be double as a training center and a community room to hold poetry nights, group meetings and more.
And as with Whole Foods there is exciting especially from the new store manager at Starbuck's KK Williams:
Williams said as an Englewood resident, she is excited to welcome a Starbucks to the neighborhood, which is long overdue for a Starbucks.

“Nothing was here a few years ago,” Williams said. “Englewood is up and coming and it’s great to hear there are more positive things going on because you never hear that. Anything negative, it’s on the TV.”
As noted here on this blog on occasion and in this article regarding Starbuck's and Whole Foods there are some trepidation. Will Whole Foods Market make money in a neighborhood with a negative reputation. Ms. Williams noted the negative responses of people from outside of the community. Here's hoping for more good news as Starbuck's open at 5 AM and Whole Foods Market Englewood open later that morning.

I want to share with you Whole Foods Englewood instagram. Surely they'll have plenty of photos of the grand opening and the first day.

Whole Foods in Engelwood opening tomorrow...

Sorry for this lazy blog post, but here's press release about Whole Foods opening in Englewood tomorrow (Wednesday). All the details are there...


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Job Opportunities, Financial Literacy to be Showcased at Englewood Whole Foods Grand Opening

CHICAGO – (September 26, 2016) – The Financial Opportunity Center of Metropolitan Family Services will offer financial tools and job training and opportunities at the grand opening celebration of the Whole Foods in Englewood from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. The store is located at 932 W. 63rd Street.

The Financial Opportunity Center (FOC), located on the campus of Kennedy King College, will be inviting adults ages 18-25 years old to open a checking account through #Englewood BAND$, a pilot project connecting young people to financial resources in their community.

The FOC also will be recruiting for the Bridge Program, a 16-week paid job training program that provides soft skills training as well as customer service credentials, and places participants at companies such as Walgreens, the local Kusanya CafĂ© – and the new Whole Foods and Starbucks.

“We are excited about the opportunities for not just jobs, but entrepreneurship, careers and healthy eating, which are all important to this community,” said Christine Brown, Senior Program Supervisor at Metropolitan Family Services. “Whole Foods and Starbucks are great places to work and offer a lot of great benefits, but individuals from our community may not have seen themselves as able to work at companies like these. We hope to help change that.”

The FOC has placed five clients in jobs at Whole Foods so far, including Lavetta and Lavelle Shaffer, who will attend the grand opening as Financial Opportunity Center (FOC) volunteers. The family, which includes a year-old son, were homeless last year. After job training through Metropolitan both parents are attending school and employed at the Englewood Whole Foods. 

The Financial Opportunity Center of Metropolitan Family Services partners with Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation, Teamwork Englewood, LISC, US Bank, Guaranty Bank, and Marquette Bank to provide #Englewood BAND$, the Bridge Program, and other services for Englewood community members.

About Metropolitan Family Services
Metropolitan Family Services empowers families to learn, to earn, to heal, to thrive. Part mentor, part motivator, part advocate, since 1857 Metropolitan Family Services has been the engine of change that empowers families to reach their greatest potential and positively impact their communities. Metropolitan is Illinois’ first comprehensive human services agency and reaches more than 68,000 families and individuals annually through seven community centers in Chicago, Evanston/Skokie, the southwest suburbs and DuPage County. Metropolitan’s services promote education, economic stability, emotional wellness and empowerment. metrofamily.org

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

ABC7: Millennials buy Englewood homes, help transform neighborhood

Let me say this from the jump, we all have the ability and indeed the right to live where we want to live. We can find people who stick out like a sore thumb in any community. The question is why do they stand out?

In this case the couple you see in this story from our ABC affiliate is one case in point. Not only that perhaps the future of many south side communities are couples like them. The main point we want the younger generation to come to these communities to essentially transform them.

I think JP Paulus - one of the bloggers here - stated that costs is what led him to Chatham. It's much less expensive to buy a house on the south side then to find a place on the north side. The couple you see in this video essentially says the same thing.

What may be a sore point for many who are looking for a good bargain when it comes to housing is crime. Englewood still has that reputation even though we know so many people are working to change that.

Either way what if Englewood eventually becomes the recipient of some new construction activity similar to what was reported by DNA Info if you simply drive due east along 63rd street.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Chicagoist: 6 People We Met In Chatham Tell Us How The Historic Neighborhood Is Changing


First got wind of this via Concerned Citizens of Chatham. Most of the people you see here are business owners in Chatham, the first one especially who is owner of Dat Donut. Here's the introduction:
Neat lawns and tidy bungalows line quiet residential streets in Chatham, a South Side neighborhood that, in some areas, still looks the part of a black middle class utopia.

Chatham represents the old bastion of black economic mobility in Chicago, where working class folk, political movers and shakers, business people and other professionals have formed the foundation of the tight-knit community since the 1950s. Yet the signs of decline are impossible to ignore, especially on once-thriving business corridors like Cottage Grove and 79th Street that are rife with empty storefronts and the types of businesses you’d expect to see in troubled urban communities: liquor stores, dollar stores, fast food joints, hair salons and payday lenders.

But if Chatham is anything, it is resilient. Despite its ailing local economy and high crime rate, despite the scores of residents and businesses that fled the neighborhood in recent years, the community still has a way of keeping people there—even luring new residents and entrepreneurs who see opportunity where others only see neglect. Though Chatham experiences more crime than some Chicago neighborhoods, it is not one of the city's most-violent communities. Between July 19 and Aug. 18, Chatham saw reports of at least 61 violent crimes, including 2 homicides, and just over 220 property and quality-of-life crimes such as thefts and property damages, according to a Tribune analysis of the city's data portal, making Chatham the 13th-most violent community in Chicago, tied with Chicago Lawn, in the past month.
The most interesting interview is of Artemus Gay who is a Liberian immigrant who moved to Chatham recently from Roger's Park. He wants to help build a community of African immigrants to Chatham to help keep up its prestige. Gay especially notes that other Africans seem to have an aversion to living on the south side.

The first part of this series produced by City Bureau was published in the Chicago Magazine. We see a group holding "church" out in the open at 79th/Cottage Grove. It's a great article I recommend you read and hopefully in the near future it'll be the next post worth discussing.