Whole Foods To Reopen In Glover Park After 3-Year Closure
Glover Park's long neighborhood nightmare is over.
Whole Foods announced Thursday it would reopen its Glover Park location nearly three years after a closure that has taken its toll on nearby businesses.
The store closed in March 2017 to address a rodent infestation, and a legal dispute with its landlord has prevented the store from reopening.
The parties have now reached an agreement that will allow the store to reopen, a Whole Foods spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The Amazon-owned grocery chain plans to remodel the store. The spokesperson did not give a time frame for when it aims to reopen.
The closure caused a drop in foot traffic in the neighborhood that hurt local businesses, and it led neighborhood leaders to organize a group to help revitalize the area. The group joined the Department of Small and Local Businesses Development's D.C. Main Streets program in the fall and received a grant to hire an executive director, Kate Dean, who started in December.
Dean told Bisnow she was "thrilled" to hear about the Whole Foods reopening, as it will help achieve the group's goal of restoring vitality to local businesses in the neighborhood.
"Local business owners benefit from the activity Whole Foods brings," Dean said. "It's an anchor property for the neighborhood. It attracts people, and it helps people stay once they're here."
