Amazon Fresh Empty Store An 'Eyesore,' Bensalem Mayor Says

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —Ask Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo what he would like to see fill the empty Amazon Fresh store on Street Road and he might have to defer to his wife.

"She wants a Wegmans," the mayor told Patch recently.

For more than six months now, the Amazon Fresh store at 1837 Street Road has sat empty. And it doesn't sit well with the mayor.

"It's an eyesore to me," DiGirolamo said. "It sits there empty. It certainly is a phantom store."

The Amazon Fresh store —like others in Lower Bucks and nearby Montgomery County —was supposed to open in the space where Kmart once ruled on Street Road sometime last year.

But a proposed November opening came and went even though township officials said construction had been completed and the site had shopping cart stalls and other markings of an Amazon Fresh store ready to go.

Then a sign stated "Opening Soon 2023."

Last month, township residents reported seeing signage removed from the property.

Amazon Fresh spokeswoman Kim Kornfeld has told Patch that Amazon does "not comment on our future roadmap."

Bob Norkus, executive director of the Bensalem Economic Development Corp., had posted on the organization's Facebook page that "Amazon now has all new Amazon Fresh stores on permanent HOLD pending evaluation of the operation."

A store was also proposed for 2424 E. Lincoln Highway in Langhorne.

Patch reported last summer that a Warrington Township location off Route 611 was the first Amazon Fresh to open in Pennsylvania.

DiGirolamo wonders whether Amazon Fresh signed a lease for several years for the property. He said if that's the case, maybe a subleasing agreement can be worked out where another retailer can fill the space.

"Get relief from the lease," he said. "I'd truly like them to get out of it."

The mayor said that the township is trying to get an answer from the owner about the status of the store.

"I don't want empty buildings," he said. "My job is to fill them."

Township Council Vice President Joseph Pilieri agrees with DiGirolamo.

"Having empty stores hasn't been our thing to make us happy, especially that," he said.

The mayor said that the store is a "phenomenal location," sitting near Interstate 95, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Northeast Philadelphia.

Pilieri said that Amazon may be waiting for a better business climate.

"I don't think it's dead yet. There's always a possibility," Pilieri said. "ShopRite wanted to go there. Maybe we can bring a Wegmans here."