A big-box vacancy on Roosevelt Boulevard may finally be getting a second act, as a national flooring chain moves to take over the long-idle, once-planned Amazon Fresh space at Red Lion Plaza.
Permits filed with the city cover roughly 45,250 square feet in the Northeast Philadelphia shopping center, aiming to repurpose a large-format site left empty after Amazon pulled back on its Fresh concept earlier this year. If it goes through, it would mark another significant backfill along the Boulevard, a retail corridor that has been reshaped repeatedly as anchors come and go.
As reported by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the permit filings identify the tenant as Floor & Decor, the national specialty flooring and hard-surface retailer. The paperwork calls for a full build-out of the former Amazon Fresh footprint but does not include a firm opening date. For now, the filings serve as the first public signal that a national chain is planning to occupy the box.
Amazon announced in late January that it was closing nearly all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go supermarkets as the company shifted focus to online grocery delivery and its Whole Foods banner, leaving many Fresh locations in limbo. That nationwide pullback suddenly created a batch of available big boxes around the country, and Red Lion Plaza landed on that list. The Associated Press reported on Amazon’s decision and the resulting wave of closures earlier this year.
Red Lion Plaza’s recent turnover
Red Lion Plaza, which fronts Roosevelt Boulevard at Red Lion Road, is a roughly 240,000-square-foot power center that has already been reworked several times in recent years to accommodate new anchors and tenants. A 2021 announcement about the property’s sale highlighted efforts to backfill a former Raymour & Flanigan space and noted plans to bring in a national grocer at that time, underlining the center’s long-running game of musical chairs for its largest spaces. The plaza’s ownership and leasing materials make it clear why managers keep chasing stable, national tenants that can fill those big boxes for the long haul.
What this will mean for shoppers
If Floor & Decor ultimately proceeds, the plaza would trade a proposed supermarket for a destination home-improvement retailer, shifting both foot traffic and the overall customer mix. Red Lion Plaza already counts anchors such as Burlington and Ross Dress for Less and pulls shoppers from a broad regional trade area, according to commercial listings for the property. A specialty flooring store would be more likely to draw contractors and DIY-focused customers making planned trips, rather than neighborhood residents dropping in for weekly groceries.
For nearby residents who had been expecting a new supermarket, the potential switch underscores how Amazon’s exit forced landlords to pivot and rethink their tenant wish lists.
Permits show intent, not a guaranteed opening date, and a lot still has to happen before any ribbon-cutting. A full build-out, inspections and signage approvals remain ahead. For now, the Philadelphia Business Journal report on the permit filings is the first public indication of Floor & Decor’s plans for the former Amazon Fresh space at Red Lion Plaza, and observers will be watching for lease confirmations and official announcements from the retailer or the plaza’s owner.
