WASHINGTON — A popular grocery store is coming back to a Northwest D.C. neighborhood.
On Thursday, Whole Foods announced plans to reopen its location at 2323 Wisconsin Avenue NW. The store had been shut down since 2017.
At the time, court documents showed Whole Foods had shut down the location to address a rodent problem that dated back to 2015.
The store's temporary closure led to a lengthy legal dispute. In a legal complaint, filed August 2017, Whole Foods claimed D.C. developer WICAL Limited Partnership was unlawfully trying to "default Whole Foods and forfeit its tenancy" because the store had yet to re-open.
Some local leaders had pointed to Whole Foods' temporary disappearance from Glover Park as a reason why business turnover had increased in the area over the last several years.
In a July interview, ANC Commissioner Jackie Blumenthal said Whole Foods' closure was partially to blame for adjacent turnover since the business helped create a considerable amount of foot traffic that benefited other stores nearby.
Whole Foods did not release details Thursday as to when the renovation process would begin or when the store would reopen.
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In 2019, Glover Park Main Street launched in an effort to revitalize the business corridor of Wisconsin Avenue NW in the Glover Park neighborhood.
GPMS Executive Director Kate Dean said the organization is thrilled over this recent development.
"Our mission is to restore vitality to the Glover Park business corridor, and Whole Foods is the perfect partner to return energy into the neighborhood," Dean siad. "Glover Park is back!"
Blumenthal agreed.
"The community is over the moon to welcome Whole Foods back to the neighborhood," she said. "And we hope they will reopen as ‘Glover Park Whole Foods’."