Pete's Fresh Market given green light to open Wheaton store in former Whole Foods space

WHEATON – Pete's Fresh Market has been given the green light to open a store in the spaces formerly occupied by Whole Foods Market and Sports Authority in the Rice Lake Square shopping center.

The Wheaton City Council at its July 17 meeting unanimously approved a request to allow a change in the facade of the former Whole Foods and Sports Authority stores to accommodate Pete's Fresh Market.

"This is a nice project for the city," City Manager Michael Dzugan said during the meeting. "I think it is a really exciting addition to our community."

Councilwoman Suzanne Fitch agreed.

"It will be a nice improvement," she said. "Hopefully, we can find something to go into that Ultra Foods site. That would be our next target."

The Ultra Foods store at 501 S. County Farm Road in Wheaton is one of several Ultra Foods stores in the area that recently closed.

Earlier this year, Whole Foods moved from its space in the Rice Lake Square shopping center to a new 55,000-square-foot space in the nearby Danada Square East shopping center. Sports Authority closed its store in Rice Lake Square in the last several months.

Pete's Fresh Market started in the early 1970s as a small, full-service produce stand on the south side of Chicago and now has several stores in the Chicago area, including in Oakbrook Terrace, Oak Park and Evergreen.

The grocery chain also may be planning to open a store in the Baker Hill Center along Roosevelt Road in Glen Ellyn. On June 13, Phillips Edison & Company, which owns the shopping center, had Pete's Fresh Market listed as a tenant in the former Dominick's on its website. The listing has since been changed to "store pending."

The 72,397-square-foot space has been vacant since December 2013.