Whole Foods grocery store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood closes after 7 years

A Whole Foods Market in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood has closed, seven years after opening at the base of a luxury apartment tower at the corner of Broadway and Madison Street.

“Like any business, we regularly evaluate the performance and growth potential of each of our stores and make decisions to position the company for long-term success,” a spokesperson for the Amazon-owned grocery chain told GeekWire on Monday, the same day the store closed.

Capitol Hill Seattle Blog first reported the news this weekend.

Whole Foods, which said team members can transfer to roles at four other Seattle-area stores, said new stores remain an important part of its growth strategy, and there are currently “more than 100 new stores in the pipeline,” the spokesperson said. The chain’s website reports on openings across the country.

The two-level, 40,000-square-foot Capitol Hill store opened in the 17-story Danforth building in October 2018, about a year after Amazon acquired the grocery chain for $13.7 billion.

In April 2024, Amazon closed a Fresh grocery store in the neighborhood at 610 E. Pike St., four years after it first opened as an Amazon Go Grocery.

On Reddit, neighborhood residents lamented the loss of Whole Foods and the shifting grocery landscape in Capitol Hill. The closest store now will be the Harvard Market QFC at Broadway and Pike Street.

“This Whole Foods is a lifesaver if you or a loved one are in the hospital at Swedish,” said Reddit user @likeitgrey. “Was able to go get lots of good stuff and walk it back to my friends hospital room very easily. I think this is terrible news for Swedish staff and patients.”

Update: The Puget Sound Business Journal reported Monday that the store closure comes just days after the high-rise apartment complex it sits inside was sold for $173 million.