Plans for Amazon Fresh grocery stores in South Florida replaced by Whole Foods and a lease-breach lawsuit

Ron Hurtibise, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·3 min read

Amazon’s plans to open its Amazon Fresh grocery stores in South Florida have wilted like a head of lettuce left outdoors in the sun.

A site in the new Uptown Boca center that its developer had reserved for Amazon Fresh is now slated to house another store owned by Amazon — Whole Foods Market.

And a planned store location that Amazon leased in Sunrise in October 2021 is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the store’s landlord seeking unpaid rent.

After debuting in 2020, Amazon now operates 44 Fresh locations in nine states. In addition to accepting pick up and return of online purchases at the locations, the stores enable consumers to leave with basketfuls of groceries without first waiting in a cashier line. Purchase costs are automatically debited from consumers’ Amazon accounts.

At some point last year, Amazon began doubting its ability to attract new customers into Amazon Fresh-branded grocery stores.

It stopped opening new stores last September, and the larger company laid off 18,000 workers, including Amazon Fresh staff, in January.

In an earnings call with investors in early February, top Amazon company officials said first quarter sales had lagged, prompting a reevaluation of the company’s grocery strategy.

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Officials said they planned to “temporarily halt” expansions while they found a format that sets the company apart from competitors.

While new South Florida stores were never officially announced by Amazon, telltale design elements at the locations in Boca Raton and Sunrise fueled speculation that they would house Amazon Fresh stores.

And more recent developments confirm that those plans have changed.

Brian Schmier, owner of Schmier Property Group, said Whole Foods was announced last week as Uptown Boca’s anchor grocery store tenant.

Asked whether Whole Foods, which Amazon purchased in 2017, is planning to locate in the spot that sat empty for more than a year with Amazon Fresh’s green and black colors decorating its overhang, Schmier called the issue “sensitive.” He instead pointed to a sitemap on Uptown Boca’s website identifying an unnamed “National Grocery Store.”

“That’s the only major retail space on the sitemap other than the movie theater,” Schmier said. He declined to reveal when the store would open, saying those announcements are up to tenants to make. Amazon did not respond to an email seeking information for this news article.

Amazon agreed to lease the Sunrise location, at 12300 W. Sunrise Blvd., for 10 years, with six five-year extension terms, states the lawsuit by the site’s landlord, Flamingo Sunrise Investment. The site, part of a shopping center called Flamingo Plaza, is located at the intersection of West Sunrise Boulevard and North Flamingo Road, just southeast of the Sawgrass Mills outlet center.

Flamingo Sunrise Investment’s suit says Amazon Retail LLC and Amazon.com breached its lease when it sent a notice on Jan. 31 seeking to “terminate the Lease without right.” The suit was filed by Ricardo Reyes of the Boca Raton-based law firm Tobin, Reyes, Alvarez & De Biase, PLLC.

Flamingo said it rejected Amazon’s “improper attempt” to terminate the lease and is now seeking damages of more than $50,000, plus interest and costs. Flamingo said in the lawsuit that Amazon Inc., as Amazon Fresh’s parent company, guaranteed payment and performance of the lease.

Flamingo sent four default notices to Amazon between February and May, demanding the company retract its “improper” termination notices and cure its “non-performances,” the lawsuit states.

On May 25 and June 6, Flamingo sent Amazon Retail notices demanding payments of unpaid rent, but Amazon has so far refused to pay, the suit claims.

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.