By Zach Mortice, Bloomberg CityLab, July 31, 2020
When it’s completed, the corner grocery store at 63rd and Racine will look a lot different than the other carryouts and bodegas dotting this section of Englewood, on Chicago’s South Side.
Designed by Wheeler Kearns Architects and developed by local nonprofit Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), the Go Green Fresh Market will essentially be a miniature supermarket across 3,000 square feet, with heaps of storage and two walk-in fridges. Floor-to-ceiling glass and will open up the store to the streetfront, putting the food on display, where its emphasis on fresh produce will be obvious — a rarity for corner stores in Englewood, or anywhere else.
Moveable shelves will make the space flexible, allowing the store to also host community events. Instead of cracked linoleum and flickering fluorescents, masonry walls are being left exposed; natural light will flood in from a skylight. West African fabric patterns and colors are guiding their interior choices, says Chris-Annmarie Spencer of Wheeler Kearns, so it doesn’t look like a “generic high-end grocery store.”
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