Online retail giant Amazon has announced that it will host a grand opening for its brand-new Amazon Fresh grocery store in Tinley Park at 8 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 22.
The 38,436-square-foot building at 16017 S. Harlem Avenue will be Amazon’s 11th brick-and-mortar storefront in the Chicago area and second in the south suburbs. Amazon opened a store a few years ago in Oak Lawn.
“This is a big win for Tinley Park and the entire south suburbs,” Mayor Michael Glotz said in a release. “Amazon Fresh is fast becoming a favorite for shoppers who value quality food and easy checkouts, and we’re excited to have one of their stores right here in our own back yard.”
The store was originally slated for a spring 2023 opening, but it has been sitting empty for more than a year.
The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Customers will be able to scan a QR code to pay for their groceries via the Amazon app. They’ll also scan the code or a card to leave the store.
The new Amazon Fresh store is part of the Tinley Park Plaza shopping center at the southeast corner of Harlem Avenue and 159th Street, which is being redeveloped by Brixmor. Phase II of the redevelopment is underway and includes plans for more retail outlets and other infrastructure improvements.
When Walt’s Foods closed its Tinley Park location almost three years ago, it left a giant hole in the Tinley Park Plaza.
That hole will soon be filled with a new 22,000-square-foot Ross Dress for Less store and a 9,800-square-foot Five Below store.
A construction fence has been erected around the property as work continues to redevelop the former Walt’s store.
Ross is a California-based discount department store chain that has a nearby store in Orland Park and a slightly larger store in the Brookside Marketplace at 191st Street and Harlem in Tinley Park.
Five Below is a Pennsylvania-based chain of specialty discount stores that prices most of its products at $5 or less and is aimed at tweens and teens. The chain also has a slightly smaller store in the Brookside Marketplace.