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TINLEY PARK, IL — Tinley Park residents eager to see an Amazon Fresh location open will have to keep waiting until 2023, Village officials said Tuesday. Amazon has been tight-lipped about the status of the store, but signage indicates a spring opening.
The 38,000-square-foot full-line store opening at 16017 S. Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park Plaza will sell groceries, made-to-order food, and beer and liquor—but Interim Community Development Director Daniel Ritter said he’s unclear when the official opening will take place. There has not been any official word from Amazon, Ritter said.
“We haven’t gotten the black and white answer from them, because they’re so big,” Ritter said.
Construction at the storefront seems to have wrapped up, Ritter said. Signage points to a spring 2023 opening, and that’s what Ritter is hoping is the case. Multiple delays along the way have been linked to staffing issues, equipment delays, and supply problems, he said, but that information has been delivered to officials through the contractors working on the building. Now that the work is complete, it’s not certain what’s causing any additional delays, Ritter said.
Residents also have conjectured what could be causing the snags in the store’s opening. Ritter said the Village does not have more information to give them at this time.
“It’s all rumors, guesses at what’s been happening,” he said.
The store will be open from 7 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.
Ritter said his last, direct communication with Amazon representatives was in September 2022. His most recent attempt to reach them was in November, to no avail.
” It’s just a business decision on Amazon’s part,” Ritter said, of their opening plans, “and they’re not very good at sharing.”
Ritter said he believes they will stick to the spring 2023 projected opening noted on signage; he assures residents he believes they will still open in the Tinley Park location. The Tinley Park store will be the closest for many, with other locations currently open in Oak Lawn, Westmont, and Naperville.
“They’ve spent millions of dollars on that property,” Ritter said, “They have a lease that ties them to it for a very long time, and I don’t think they’re going anywhere.”
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