‘Ideal Market’ signage goes up at former Whole Foods in Cap Hill

Ideal Market signage has gone up at the former Whole Foods in Cap Hill. (Photos by Thomas Gounley)

The former Whole Foods Market store in Cap Hill appears to be reopening under a different brand.

Signage bearing the name “Ideal Market” has gone up recently at the 20,500-square-foot building at 900 E. 11th Ave., which is being renovated.

Ideal Market is the name of a grocery store at 1275 Alpine Ave. in Boulder. Whole Foods has owned that store since 2007, when the Austin-based company purchased the Wild Oats Market chain.

Whole Foods, which was purchased by retailer Amazon in 2017, did not respond to a request for comment.

Whole Foods closed at the site in late 2017.

The Whole Foods store at the Cap Hill location closed in November 2017. Since then, the company has said nothing publicly about its plans for the site.

The property is owned by Midtown 900 Associates, an entity affiliated with Doug Antonoff’s Antonoff & Co. Antonoff said in 2018 that Whole Foods’ lease for the property extended for 13 more years.

Whole Foods asked the city for permits related to renovating the building in the summer of 2019. That work has been ongoing for months.