According to a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal, 365 by Whole Foods has been ordered to reopen their Bellevue Square location by a King County Superior Court Judge.
Since the grocery store closed in mid-October Bellevue Square sued Whole Foods to enforce the terms of the lease. The judge’s order has given Whole Foods 14 days to reopen. According to the report this if the first time in 70 years Bellevue Square has asked the court to enforce an operating covenant.
The 365 by Whole Foods Bellevue Square space is 34,000 square feet and originally opened in September of 2016.
Why?!?! That crazy. Maybe WF can take over there.
Wow!
How can a judge force a company to reopen? I can see forcing them to pay for their remaining lease balance, but reopen? What if they don’t have stock or employees?
These judges don’t appear to live in a practical world. This will get settled upon appeal.
Here’s a Forbes article with no pay wall
is the judge is also forcing customers to buy there?
There is an article on Forbes with no paywall https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/2017/12/07/judge-tells-whole-foods-gotta-keep-that-365-store-open/#3da952121b75
If they signed an operating covenant then they should be operating the store. The only other option is to declare bankruptcy which leaves settlement in the courts hands, or use whatever exit clause is in the agreement. I find it hard to believe that Whole Foods signed an agreement that doesn’t have an exit clause. I am guessing the just don’t want to pay the associated fees for early termination.
It needs to be reopened as a Whole Foods. I went to the 365 once and only once for a reason. There are plenty of people living in Downtown who don’t want to go clear across the highway to shop at Whole Foods. There is no upscale market presently in Downtown.
Whole Foods is upscale? NOT!! It’s just a regular grocery store with overpriced products for anyone who thinks money is no object—it’s for the rich people. I discovered that most of the overpriced product brands Whole Foods carries (not 365 brand) have better deals else where (e.g., manufactures websites, even at Trader Joe’s). Of course, you would rather shop at an upscale grocery store with quality customers shopping there—just don’t shop at Safeway on Bellevue Way NE (close to the shopping mall)!! The Safeway workers are gross along with some of the occasional homeless people that hang out there too.