By reporter Steven Smalley
?You heard it here first…confirmed by contractors cleaning up the location next to Interbay Whole Foods, and by Whole Foods management, the huge vacant space next to the store will be occupied by Petco. Workers inside the new retail location first confirmed the new tenant to Magnolia Voice last week. There is still one third of the large building on the far west side of Whole Foods?waiting to be leased. Multiple calls to Petco corporate office in San Diego were not immediately returned.
That’s actually too bad. Not because I have anything against Petco, per se, but I was hoping that Whole Foods would seize upon the improving economy to expand into the empty space. This would have completed their original plan that was scaled back at the last minute, due to the recession. As someone who has lived in several other cities, I find the Interbay Whole Foods merely adequate in terms of size and selection. If you’re ever in Chicago, visit the Whole Foods in Lincoln Park. You will be blown away.
Agreed. I am hoping nothing takes away from the local pet supply store here in the Village. I was sorry PJs closed and give all my business to the Pet Pros next to where Blockbusters used to be. Whole Foods in Interbay is not worth the trip(as you say) nor is the Metropolitan Market. Please, everyone, support what is left of Magnolia businesses.
I like Pet Pros, too, but I don’t think there’s much of a worry about their demise. There’s already a Petco in Crown Hill (not to mention All the Best and Mud Bay, both in Ballard) — there’s plenty of big-name (and not-so-big-name) pet stores going around, and if Pet Pros has survived so far, with prices above all three of the above stores, I’m sure a Petco down the hill won’t have a dramatic impact on their business.
It’s gettin’ real in the Whole Foods parking lot! What’s the deal with those little shopping carts they’ve got?
Unfortunately, Pet Pros doesn’t carry a lot of the stuff my pets like, and Petco does. I am glad that there will be a Petco closer to home. I am not going to shop in the Village simply because I live in the neighborhood. They have to have a good product, at a good price, with good service.