This Friday, June 16, 2017, photo shows a Whole Foods Market in Indianapolis. The company has promised to put one of its 365 by Whole Foods concept stores in the new Secor Square shopping center on Secor Road between I-475 and Executive Parkway.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Whole Foods Market, which has promised to put one of its 365 by Whole Foods concept stores in the new Secor Square shopping center on Secor Road between I-475 and Executive Parkway, has filed paperwork with the state of Ohio’s Department of Commerce to obtain a license to sell alcoholic beverages at the Secor location.
It is the first concrete indication that the company is ready to move forward on the 35,000-square-foot store. The store space is finished but the retailer, which recently was purchased by Amazon.com Inc., has given no indication on when it plans to move in.
A spokesman for the developer of the Secor Square, S.J. Collins Enterprises, said any details regarding the store would have to come from Whole Foods. Neither the grocery chain nor its parent firm, Amazon, responded to inquiries seeking comment.
State commerce department officials also did not respond to requests for information.
Previously, officials for S.J. Collins stated the developer is confident that Austin-based Whole Foods would honor its Toledo commitment and occupy space developed for it. But the company still has not updated its website other than to indicate that Toledo would be a future site.
Action on the liquor permit request is not expected to occur until mid-September.
When it took over Whole Foods last week, Amazon promised swift changes to the grocery retailer and it began immediately by slashing prices at Whole Foods stores and expanding its merchandise offerings to include electronics marketed by the Seattle-based internet retailer, including its Amazon Echo device.
Contact Jon Chavez at jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.