To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Whole Foods is hosting a 5 day party at its Interbay location. Starting September 16, the store will host a different event for 5 consecutive days including wine, beer and food tastings.

The highlight of the party is the “Beer ‘n Burgers Bash” on Saturday (9/18) when you can sample beers from breweries around the state alongside sliders prepared by local chefs. The event on Saturday runs from noon to 3pm with a suggested donation of $15 to benefit Northwest Harvest, which will also hold a food drive during the 5 day party. You can purchase tickets for the Beer ‘n Burgers Bash by clicking here.

Whole Foods grand opening in Interbay from October 2009

Here’s a list of some of the other events scheduled to celebrate the anniversary:

· A tasting of Samuel Smith organic fruit beers. Sept. 16, 5-7pm, $3.

· A wine and seafood pairing with white wine, local sake and sparkling wine. Sept. 17, 5-7pm, $3.

· A wine tasting with local producer Theo Chocolates. Sept. 18, 3-5pm, $3 donation.

· Mini cupcake giveaway in-store to the first 100 guests at 6pm on Sept. 20.

A small crowd gathered for the opening ceremonies of the Interbay Whole Foods this morning.  Then the doors were open and shoppers were invited inside.

Many in the crowd were connected to the store and there was no rush of shoppers waiting to get inside.  A few folks did grab shopping carts and began to load up.  The Interbay Whole Foods employs about 140 people who seemed eager to show off their new store to shoppers.

The shopping complex anchored by Whole Foods has slowly filled up with other retail outlets.  The Magic Dragon Chinese Restaurant is now open along with Peet’s, Subway and a dry cleaner. 

Whole Foods decided to build a smaller store than originally planned and the space next door is still available for lease. 

A large crowd showed up at the new Whole Foods this evening for free food and drink in advance of the store’s grand opening. 

The doors will open officially at 8am Tuesday and the store invited future shoppers in this afternoon to see the store and enjoy free samples. 

The first 200 customers through the door on Tuesday will get a reusable shopping bag.

Today was preview day for the new Whole Foods in Interbay.

The pumpkins are stacked out front, the shelves are stocked, even the cupcakes are frosted and ready for tomorrow’s grand opening.

Vicky Foley, the spokeswoman for Whole Foods, says that this is one of the smaller stores in the Seattle area, but it is full of local products. They have local produce, local wine, lotions by Ballard Organics and sushi made by Blue C.

The Allegro Espresso Bar will open at 7 a.m. each morning and will feature a Kombucha bar brewed by Townshend’s Tea Company in Portland.

Just down the counter and spanning most of the east wall is gelato, a pizzeria station, a burrito bar and sandwich bar followed by a bakery and plenty of gourmet cheese.

There is a separate little room at the front of the store near the espresso bar that is the “community room” that will have free wi-fi.

Forget the traditional ribbon-cutting, tomorrow there will be a “bread-breaking ceremony” at 8 a.m. to officially open the new store.

Whole Foods is inviting the Magnolia neighborhood to a pre-opening party on Monday, October 12 from 4pm to 8pm at the new Interbay store on 15th Ave West.

The invitation says there will be the chance to feast on nibbles from the bakery and catering departments and sips from area breweries, wineries and Allegro Coffee Company.  There will also be live music and the chance to win door prizes.

The store will open for shopping on Tuesday, October 13th.

The Interbay Whole Foods is getting closer to opening.  They will now open their doors in one week, on Tuesday, October 13.

As you can see from this picture, the store looks pretty much ready to go. The shelves are stocked and everything seems to be in place.  Whole Foods announced in January that the store in the Interbay Retail Center on 15th Ave West would open in December but they moved up the timeframe.

Magnolia Voice was the first to report last September that the project at Interbay was stopped when the developer filed suit against Whole Foods for breaching the lease.  The original opening was set for last Thanksgiving.  Peet’s Coffee, Subway and Dry Cleaner have already opened.  The Magic Dragon Chinese Eatery is set to open soon.   

According to Whole Foods PR representative Vicki Foley, the national grocer is “on track” to open their Interbay location on October 14. The new Whole Foods will be the “anchor tenant” at the Interbay Urban Center, a new 80,000 retail hub along 15th Avenue W. by Seattle-based real estate company TRF Pacific.

In a press release published by the two companies back in January, Whole Foods Pacific Northwest regional president John Clougher called Interbay an “emerging community,” and explained that the venture would transform the area and benefit Interbay residents, as well as surrounding neighborhoods like Magnolia and Queen Anne.

“15th Avenue is the third most traveled arterial in Seattle. People want to shop and get going to their destination, so this store will cater to good foods on the go,” Clougher said. The Interbay Urban Center would also be located at the intersection of the Burke-Gilman bike trail and next to Metro’s rapid transit bus service that goes along 15th to downtown.

The Interbay Whole Foods will feature an interactive healthy eating center, cooking classes and demonstrations, a coffee shop and a handful of other amenities common in other store by the Austin, Texas-based grocery chain.

This Whole Foods is finally coming, after a lawsuit with developer TRF Pacific settled earlier this year. So far several smaller retail spaces have been leased: Interbay Cleaners, Subway, Verizon Wireless, The Magic Dragon Chinese Eatery and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

And According to rep Vicki, Whole Foods will continue to expand in the Seattle-area:

After Interbay, we anticipate opening the Fauntleroy Place store at some stage in 2010.

Another restaurant is getting set to open in the Whole Foods complex on 15th Ave West.  The Magic Dragon Chinese Eatery will join Peet’s Coffee and Subway.  It looks like it will be open in the next few weeks.

Whole Foods is expected to open this year but there is no firm opening date yet.  We have heard the store might be ready as early as October.  In February they announced it would be open by Christmas this year.  Its hard to tell how much progress they are making since the doors are all now covered.

They are still looking to lease the extra space in the main building of the complex.  Whole Foods will use 38,000 square feet for their store and is seeking another retailer to sublease the remaining space.

As we reported back in September, construction stopped at the store site when Whole Foods wanted to lower the square footage of the store.  Developer TRF then filed a $68 million lawsuit against Whole Foods for violating the lease. and construction at the site stopped.   The two announced they had worked out their differences earlier this year and work resumed on Whole Foods.

One business is now open in the Whole Foods complex on 15th Ave West and more are on the way.

Subway opened recently and workers there say business is actually pretty good despite the fact anchor tenant Whole Foods won’t open until at least the end of the year. 

Peet’s Coffee and Tea and a dry cleaner are also set to open in the complex soon.

UPDATE:  Published reports say that Whole Foods has settled its dispute with the developer and will open the store at the Interbay site later this year.  It will be smaller than originally planned and Whole Foods will find another retailer to take over the extra space.  They will be searching for a retailer who wants the 20,000 square feet that Whole Foods no longer wants.  The Interbay store will be 36,000 square feet, which is smaller than the Whole Foods in South Lake Union.

There is a big announcement regarding the the Interbay Urban Center set for Tuesday (Jan 27) at 10a.m.  This is the retail center on 15th Ave West where construction stopped on the Whole Foods Market after a battle between the developer and Whole Foods led to a lawsuit. 

Representatives from developer TRF Pacific are telling us that they will share future plans for the currently vacent retail center tomorrow but won’t give up any further details until the announcement. 

It is a likely bet they have good news to report or they would not be holding a news conference.  Speculation is that a deal has been worked out for Whole Foods to decrease the square footage for the store and another retailer will take over the extra space.  The fact that they will be unfurling a 16 foot banner at the announcement makes us think that they likely have another retailer on board and hopefully an opening date for Whole Foods.

Magnolia Voice was the first to report last September that the Whole Foods project at Interbay was in trouble when TRF filed suit against Whole Foods for breaching the lease.  Whole Foods was originally set to open last Thanksgiving but construction on the site stopped completely in September.  Two other retailers, Subway and Interbay Cleaners, have space in the center but don’t plan to open until they know what is going on with the main tenants.  Pete’s Coffee was also expected to open there. 

In our most recent report a few weeks ago,  Magnolia Voice reader Adam shared this information in comments:

I also know that Whole Foods will be occupying that space in the smaller format come late summer. I work for another national retailer that has agreed to occupy the 20k or so sq ft that Whole Foods didn’t want. I know that everyone has been tight liped about it all because of thw lawsuit and negotiations. I am hearing that it will all be settled and announced by the end of Jan.

 Looks like Adam may be right.  We will be at the announcement tomorrow to bring you the latest details.   

For those who are still holding out hope that the big empty space on 15th Ave West will someday actually be home to Whole Foods as originally planned, an interesting report today from Market Watch.  

Shares of the troubled Whole Foods Market surged 22% after the investment fund run by Ron Burkle, who made a fortune in investing in supermarkets, bet the high-end grocery chain can turn its business around with a big investment in the company. The filing spurred more buying in Whole Foods stock as investors took the news as a vote of confidence in the struggling grocer. 

Whole Foods has been hit hard by the economy and we have been following the company troubles since the store that was supposed to open on 15th was put on indefinite hold. 

Magnolia Voice first reported in September that the Whole Foods project at Interbay was in trouble.  The developer of the complex filed suit against Whole Foods for breaching the lease and it is now unclear if the store will ever open in that location.   The large complex that was meant to house Whole Foods now sits empty.

Another development in the struggle between Whole Foods and TRF Pacific, the developer of the shopping center on 15th Ave West.  As we originally reported, TRF is sueing Whole Foods claiming that the grocery store terminated its lease one week before they were scheduled to turn over the building shell.

This is what the Whole Foods store was supposed to look like but now the company has removed the Interbay store from its company website.  Until now it has been listed as a store in development in Washington State but now the only development store listed in our state is the West Seattle location currently under construction.

TRF says the Interbay Whole Foods was configured and custom built based on Whole Foods’ specifications and they want Whole Foods to honor the commitments it has made.  Whole Foods has said they are hopeful that they can resolve their differences with TRF. 

The store is currently boarded up and the construction crews are gone.  (Thanks Darcy for the tip!)

Update:  Whole Foods represantives have finally commented on the lawsuit, telling The Stranger that negotiations with their landlord are a work in progress and they are still hoping to reach a resolution.  We have contacted their representatives several times and have been told the company would have no comment so not sure why they are only talking to The Stranger?

Update:  Here is the statement we just received from TRF Pacific, the company that filed suit against Whole Foods.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ve been forced into taking this action.  This is the first time in our company’s history that we’ve had to file a lawsuit against an anchor tenant for breach of lease.  TRF has had a great working relationship with Whole Foods.  In fact, this is the third development with the company.  The Interbay Whole Foods was configured and custom built based on Whole Foods’ specifications.  Whole Foods notified us of its intentions to terminate its lease one week before we were scheduled to turn over the building shell to the company.  We’re hopeful that Whole Foods will reconsider its decision and honor the commitments it has made.”  

We also heard back from Whole Foods, letting us know they had no comment on the lawsuit.

Exclusive:  Whole Foods is now being sued by the company that’s building the shopping center on 15th Ave. for breaching the lease.  And there are now serious questions as to whether the store will ever open at that location. 

As we reported in our exclusive post earlier this month, Whole Foods delayed the project for up to a year while also decreasing the size of the store.  Construction has stopped at the site and the store is just a shell inside.

Now Interbay Urban Center says that Whole Foods unlawfully terminated the lease on September 22 and has just filed suit asking for almost $68 million in damages.  The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court says that Whole Foods owes them for recovery of development and construction costs, the recovery of future rents and the difference in the value of the shopping center without Whole Foods.

We have calls out to Whole Foods but they are not responding.  We will let you know as soon as we hear from them.  This could also be bad news for the other stores who are expected to open at the site including Pete’s Coffee and Subway since traffic at the shopping center will not be as high without Whole Foods.

The Interbay Whole Foods is still listed on the company website along with a store under construction in West Seattle.

Exclusive: Magnolia Voice has learned that the Whole Foods Market under construction on 15th Ave. will not open around Thanksgiving of this year as scheduled, and it may be another year before the store greets shoppers.  Also, the market’s retail space will be downsized.

The developer confirms that Whole Foods told them to finish the building exteriors and then stop construction.  Crews should be done in four or five weeks and then work will shut down.  The developer says it’s not clear when construction will begin on the store interior and it could be October, 2009 before the store opens.

The problem appears to be related to cash flow problems for Whole Foods.  In August, Whole Foods reported its third-quarter net income dropped more than 30 percent largely due to the tough economy that hurt consumer spending.  At that time the company said it would open fewer stores next year.

The developer was surprised when Whole Foods decided to delay the project but believes the store will still open. “They are still committed to the location; they’ve put a serious amount of money into it already. They are committed to opening the store but we don’t have a date and it could be stalled for up to a year,” says Tim Russell of TRF Pacific Commercial Real Estate.

Russell also confirmed that Whole Foods is scaling back the size of the store from 50,000 square feet to around 38,000 square feet.  That will make the store smaller than the other Whole Foods in Seattle on Westlake.  They plan to rent the extra space next to the store to another tenant.

There are tenants confirmed for the other buildings on the site, including Pete’s Coffee, Subway, Verizon and a dry cleaner.  The delay of Whole Foods does not affect those openings.

The Interbay Whole Foods is listed as a store in development on the company website but no opening date is given.  A spokesperson for the company said the decision to postpone was made to allow them to focus on other stores and she would not have any more details about the project until early November. 

Here is what the development will look like when it is finally finished.