Amazon moves closer to opening a supermarket on a site once dubbed ‘possibly the ugliest shopping center in Philadelphia’

Retail giant Amazon is inching closer to opening a supermarket next to a new Northern Liberties high-rise, a project that has been on the books for several years.

Amazon, which operates Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh stores, would not specify which brand it will be — or directly confirm that it was opening a market at Sixth and Spring Garden Streets next to the Carson, a 12-story, 370-unit apartment building.

No logos are visible. The lime green-and-black detailing on the facade calls to mind Amazon Fresh, whose stores typically have more tech features, such as Dash Cart, which allows customers to shop using an in-app code and then leave the store without stopping to pay. Amazon Fresh stores also accept other forms of payment, including cash.

A liquor-license notice filed last week identifies the applicant as Amazon Retail LLC. In September 2020, the Philadelphia Business Journal, quoting sources, reported that Amazon had signed a lease for 40,000 square feet.

Amazon spokesperson Griffin Buch on Saturday told The Inquirer only that the company would “continue to open new Whole Foods Market stores, and will do so selectively with Amazon Fresh as we see results we like.”

The site, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, previously was Liberty Shopping Plaza, whose anchor tenant was a Dollar General store. In 2011, the blog Naked Philly called it “possibly the ugliest shopping center in Philadelphia.”

Besides New Spring Garden Market — a Chinese market across from the Carson at Fourth Street — grocery options nearby include a Giant at Broad and Spring Garden Streets that opened in 2022, a Target on Fifth Street south of Spring Garden Street that opened in 2018, a Giant Heirloom on Second and Wildey Streets, and the longtime Acme at Second Street and Girard Avenue.

A smaller specialty retailer, Riverwards Produce Market, opened in 2022 on Bread Street near Race in Old City.

Whole Foods has long had a presence in Philadelphia, well before its merger with Amazon in 2017. Its stores in the city operate at 2101 Pennsylvania Ave. and at 10th and South Streets, and its locations dot the suburbs.

Amazon Fresh stores operate in Broomall, Delaware County, and Warrington, Bucks County. An Amazon Fresh in Bensalem recently completed a round of hiring and appears to be nearing its opening, according to the Bucks County Courier Times. An additional Bucks County location, in Lincoln Plaza in Middletown Township, appears to be on hold, though it has applied for a liquor license.