The food co-op Wild Onion Market announced Saturday that it has signed a ten-year lease on a store site at 7007 N. Clark St. in Chicago.
Co-op organizers say more than 40% of its more than 1,000 members are Evanstonians.
They hope to open in the former Express Market Place store around the end of this year, after more than eight years of efforts to build membership and launch the co-op.
“I’m thrilled to see all of our hard work coming to fruition.” said Mary Meyer, Wild Onion
Market founder and board ,ember. “As long as our community continues to show up with
their support, I know we can get our doors open!”
A capital campaign to fund the new store will run from March 6 to May 22 to raise funds needed to open the store.
Store design by Retail Planit of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, is underway, in conjunction with architect Brian Hammersley of Hammersley Architecture in Chicago.
Construction is set to begin this spring. Opening day is projected to be in the last weeks of 2022 or early in 2023.
Wild Onion Market will be a co-operative market focused on local and sustainable food, serving Rogers Park, West Ridge, and Evanston.
Community members are invited to become owners of Wild Onion Market for a lifetime household share of $250. Information about a scholarship program to reduce the cost of joining is available on the market’s website.