The development of a new facility will take place in a Chicago South Side neighborhood

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Whole Foods Market announced the opening of a new distribution center in Pullman. The new facility marks continued commitment by the company to Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods.

“This distribution center is another example of Whole Foods doubling down on Chicago’s South Side and adds to the renaissance that is happening in Pullman,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “Neighborhood investments like these – from stores in Hyde Park and Englewood to this distribution center in Pullman – will be vital community anchors and open up more avenues of opportunity for all Chicagoans. I want to thank Whole Foods for their continuing commitment to Chicago and our neighborhoods.”

Expected to open in early 2018, the new Whole Foods Market distribution center will take advantage of the Pullman neighborhood’s skilled workforce, close proximity to the interstate and diverse business climate to serve Whole Foods Market locations across the Midwest and Eastern Canada.

The new 140,000-square-foot facility replaces the current Whole Foods Market distribution center in Munster, Indiana. When opened, the new facility will add 150 jobs in Chicago and serve as many as 70 Whole Foods Market locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, and the Canadian province of Ontario.

”Our new Pullman distribution center will not only let us more conveniently serve our 25 Chicagoland locations, it also gives us easy access to our stores all across the Midwest,” said Whole Foods Market Midwest Regional President, Michael Bashaw. “We are incredibly proud of the opportunity to be a part of a neighborhood that’s so connected to Chicago’s past and also such an important part of Chicago’s future.”

The Whole Foods Market distribution center builds on previously announced plans of the company to serve Chicago’s South Side, including a store in Hyde Park and one  in Englewood.

“A little over one year ago President Barack Obama designated the historic Pullman district as a National Monument. Today, Whole Foods is joining the robust group of manufacturing companies that call Pullman home,” said Alderman Anthony Beale (9th).