Whole Foods Opening Date Revealed, High-End Liquor Store Approved

TOWSON, MD — The new Whole Foods is expected to open in fall 2021 in Towson, an executive working on the development said this week. A projected opening date for the high-end market was provided in the process of obtaining a liquor license for Uncorked, the spirits store opening nearby.

"Typically, Whole Foods is in close proximity to a higher-end wine and spirits shop," said Tracey Holehan, vice president of leasing for Greenberg Gibbons, developer of Towson Row.

In Mt. Washington, she said, Whole Foods was accompanied by nearby Wine Works; the Inner Harbor had Bin 604; and the Annapolis market was situated near Bin 201.

"Their customer is typically an affluent customer and is focused on health ... very focused on organic shopping, and they have a higher level of specification when it comes to wine and spirits," Holehan said of Whole Foods clientele. "We think Uncorked will deliver that to the Whole Foods customer and the Towson community."

Whole Foods will begin building March 1 at Towson Row, the 1.2-million-square-fooot project off Towsontown Boulevard at York Road, Holehan told the Baltimore County liquor board.

The 45,000-square-foot Whole Foods, featuring a 7,000-square-foot mezzanine, will open "probably in October of 2021," according to Holehan.

Whole Foods was so confident that its customers would be shopping at Uncorked that it plans to allow liquor store patrons to use some of its parking, said Holehan, who noted that other retailers would not be allowed the same privileges.

"No other retailers can park there, because they understand it's the same customer and it's the same trip," Holehan said, stating of Uncorked: "There's nothing else like it in the Towson area."

Uncorked will be across a new two-lane road from Whole Foods.

"You can probably throw a stone at it and hit it" from Whole Foods, said Holehan.

Uncorked plans to open by the end of October or early November, owner Sneha Parmar told the liquor board.

Parmar, who lives in Towson, said her store will offer boutique wines and have three employees. She said the manager is a wine specialist.

Every customer will be asked for identification, according to Parmar.

When the commissioners asked for assurance that the system in place for checking identification would be robust due to the concentration of Towson University students in the area, Parmar said: "Our point-of-sale system will also have an ID scanner built in."

Commissioners approved the application from Uncorked to obtain a class A (off sale) beer, wine, liquor mixed-use exception license.

Hours will be from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. when Uncorked opens at 20 West Susquehanna Avenue, Suite 100, Towson, MD 21204.