BEVERLY, Mass. — A Whole Foods in Beverly is sinking into the ground, and the popular supermarket chain says repairs could cost millions of dollars.
The grocery store, located at 150 Brimbal Ave, opened less than six years ago and is built on a former landfill.
Regular customers have been noticing cracks that continue to appear on the ground and spots where the floor dips.
A lawsuit filed by Whole Foods alleges ‘negligent design, planning, and construction’ and claims the ongoing problems are indicators of ‘faulty workmanship’.
The suit blames landlord CEA Beverly LLC, the general contractor, the site developer, and sthe ubcontractors.
“In mid to late 2022, Whole Foods became aware of numerous structural and foundational issues with the Store, such as noticeable floor and ceiling movement in multiple areas,” the suit states.
Whole Foods said it had to pay to replace storefront glass windows and install acrylic windows to allow for movement and to prevent glass from shattering.
The store is also reporting issues with its doors caused by the shifting foundation.
“There are jokes that we should be coming in here with hard hats on,” said shopper Nancy Littlehale. “My cart almost went into the seafood counter. That’s where the dips are, and you can see cracks in the floor,r which is a little disconcerting.”
The Whole Foods in Beverly quickly became a popular location for several surrounding North Shore communities after opening in 2019 in the North Shore Crossing Plaza.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, said fixing the problems will likely cost millions of dollars and could force the store to close for a prolonged period.
It claims a closure would result in $1 million dollars per week in lost profits.
“I’d be incredibly disappointed. I come to this Whole Foods daily,” said shopper Mike Lyons. “I don’t know who knew, but if they should’ve known, and they didn’t report it, I think that’s a huge liability on their part.”
According to the lawsuit, the issues with the Whole Foods structure could be connected to “improper design assumptions”.
“A reasonably prudent landlord would have made certain that all designs and construction accounted for the decomposition of the Rubbish Fill,” it states. “CEA failed to supervise its agents, employees, and others with whom it had contracted and instead allowed for the construction of a site pad that was negligently engineered, designed, and constructed.”
Boston 25 News reached out to CEA Beverly LLC and the other co-defendants and have not yet heard back.
A Whole Foods spokesperson declined to discuss the case and said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
The city of Beverly has not publicly commented on the lawsuit and hasn’t said if the ‘structurally unsound’ building potentially presents any safety concerns in the community.
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