DETROIT, MI - About eight weeks ago Whole Foods Market opened arguably one of the highest-anticipated retail stores in Detroit in recent years, throwing up the doors to a 21,000-square-foot location at Woodward and Mack avenues in Midtown.

And as it is with all things Detroit, along with the pomp and circumstance that came with the grand opening on June 5 and something that seemed to resemble progress, there was also a less-loud but always-present chorus of Detroit detractors who argued that it was too-high priced for Detroiters and would not be sustained by the city.

So far, those detractors appear to be wrong, at least according to one of the retail company's executives. Whole Foods Market Co-CEO Walter Robb told Bloomberg that "the store is exceeding our wildest expectations." He added that the store is serving a "wide area of the community.

"A lot of things we hoped would work (in Detroit) are working, and I just couldn't be more pleased with that, particularly at a time when the narrative about the city is so negative. I have to tell you, there is just a lot positive about that community."

Robb was on hand when staff members and civic leaders ceremoniously broke a giant loaf of bread at the store's opening. At the time, he declined to give MLive an idea of kind of sales he expected at the store.

In addition to talking about the Detroit store to Bloomberg, Robb said the Austin, Texas-based retailer is opening a variety of stores, ranging from 20,000 to 70,000 square feet in size, in a diverse range of locations such as Manhattan and Savannah, Ga.

Whole Foods Market had $11.7 billion in sales last year. It has 340 stores throughout the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

The company employs more than 73,000 people, but its hiring of 97 team members in Detroit have been an apparent source of pride. The company had originally vowed that at least half of its workers would be form the city of Detroit, and has since said that about 70 percent of its hires are Detroiters.

The retailer was reportedly given $4.2 million in tax credits to open the store at the corner of Woodward and Mack Avenue. Last June, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced a $1 million incentive for the construction of the Midtown store.