It's hard to imagine that two years have passed since I broke news that Whole Foods was scouting space in Detroit.

But today I got my first look inside Midtown's Whole Foods -- with its cafȁ; tabletops made from old car hoods and other Detroit-centric touches. The store is slated to open June 5.

Two years ago, the story started with a passing mention from Mayor Dave Bing to a friend at a news conference - little more than a whisper.

I remember sitting at my desk making call after call just trying to get someone on the record about the opening.

It took a lot of prodding, but I was finally able to get the unofficial mayor of Midtown, Sue Mosey, to budge.

"There has been some expressed interest by Whole Foods in looking at the possibility of a store in Midtown" was all Mosey would say at the time.

Now it's even harder to believe that in just over a month, Whole Foods in Midtown will be open to the public.

In all, it took 3 1/2 years to get the store open.

It's amazing how time flies.

Right now, the 20,650-square-foot store looks a lot like any other grocery store does when it's a month away from opening.

Workers are putting the finishing touches on their given projects. Boxes wrapped in cellophane litter the floor.

Amanda Musilli, community liaison for Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Inc. and longtime Midtown resident, said at least 35 percent of the construction workers on the project are Detroit-based.

Musilli said getting the Midtown store ready is a lot like any other opening, but with one big difference.

"It's been different in some ways but the same in others," Musilli said. "What made this different is that we reached out to the community before we even signed the lease, which is very rare. We don't do that that far in advance."

There will be some Detroit-centric touches at the Midtown location.

The tabletops in the cafȁ; are made from old car hoods. A timeline of Detroit events will be proudly displayed above the dairy section. The numbers at the cash registers will be made from old Motown 45s.

It will be interesting to see how Whole Foods does once the novelty wears off a bit and we get a sense of what its real customer base looks like.