At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, November 18, the doors open at 8310 Liberty Way. The 40,000-square-foot building on Liberty Way will become a working Whole Foods Market. Its regular hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day after that. Whole Foods set the date in its October 20 announcement. It closes a wait that started in spring 2024, when Fox19 reported that the store could open in "the second half of 2025 or later."
November 18 opens the grocery store. The rest of Village North won't be done for a while. Every other business that has announced space at Village North is on a later timeline, and most haven't posted a date at all. For the next several months, West Chester gets a full-size grocery anchor surrounded by storefronts that are still on their way. The store is also replacing the Whole Foods in Mason, so shoppers there will have to change their routines too.
Opening Morning on Liberty Way
The announcement spells out the first day in more detail than most store openings get:
- 9 a.m. opening, an hour later than the store's regular 8 a.m. start.
- Coffee from Deeper Roots Coffee, plus samples from local and national suppliers throughout the store, including cold-pressed juice from Urban Remedy.
- The first 300 people in line get a limited-edition Liberty tote made from recycled textiles and a Secret Saver coupon worth up to $100 off.
- A food donation and a cash donation to La Soupe. The Cincinnati nonprofit already picks up surplus food from local Whole Foods stores on a regular schedule.
Grocery Pickup will be available "shortly after opening," which means it may not start on the first day. If you were planning to order online for a pickup that week, have a backup plan.
Whole Foods named Rachel Abrams as Store Team Leader.
The Shelves Lean Regional
The company says the store will carry more than 300 products from Ohio and neighboring states. Lillian Huber, the chain's Forager for Local & Emerging Brands, helped source them. The announcement names enough suppliers to show what that looks like on the shelf:
- Dairy and cheese: Hartzler Family Dairy milk, lactose-free cheeses from Snowville Creamery, and cheddar from Middlefield Original Cheese Co-Op. Trained cheesemongers will staff the counter.
- Pasta, coffee, honey: fresh ravioli from Ohio City Pasta, packaged coffee from Deeper Roots, and honey from Don Popp's Honey Farm.
- Produce and flowers: Sunny Meadows Flower Farm, Sustainable Harvest Farm, Sunsprout Farms, and What Chefs Want.
- Meat: a full-service counter with sausage made in-house and local items from Pine Manor Farms, Marksbury Farm Market, and AmyLu Foods.
- Beer and wine: more than 700 wines and 270 craft beers, including Rhinegeist, Sonder Brewing, and Columbus Brewing Co.
For a weeknight dinner, the prepared foods department may matter most. It has hot and salad bars on a rotating menu, pizza by the slice or the whole pie, a Market Sandwich counter, and sushi rolled fresh daily by Genji. The bakery's seasonal list includes a Brown Sugar Apple Pie and a Holiday Cookie Box. That's useful to know, because the store opens eight days before Thanksgiving on November 26.
The Mason Store Has No Announced Last Day
The new store replaces something. Whole Foods calls the Liberty Way store a relocation of its Mason location, which has served the area since 2007. That store sits at 5805 Deerfield Blvd in Deerfield Towne Center.
The Mason-Deerfield Times reported on October 22 that no closing date for the Mason store had been made public. The paper also said Whole Foods had not said whether Mason employees would transfer to West Chester or what would happen to the Deerfield Towne Center space. As of October 20, the shopping center's own directory still listed Whole Foods as a tenant. The Times summed up the change for Mason:
"The move ends a nearly two-decade run for the grocery chain in Mason."
The timing matters most for holiday orders. Whole Foods hasn't said where Thanksgiving pre-orders placed through the Mason store will be picked up. If you usually order a holiday meal or a pie from Deerfield Blvd, ask the store directly which location will have your order before you place it. Your regular weekly shop changes too. From the Mason Meadows side of the county line, the nearest Whole Foods moves from Deerfield Towne Center to Liberty Way, in what the Times calls the Four Bridges area of West Chester.
Everyone Else at Village North Is on a Later Timeline
West Chester's economic development office describes Village North as "anchored by Whole Foods." That fits, because so far the anchor is the only piece with an opening date. Here's what each announced tenant has posted as of late October 2026:
| Tenant | Address | What it is | Posted timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole Foods Market | 8310 Liberty Way | 40,000-sq-ft grocery | November 18, 2026 |
| Café Patachou | 8370 Liberty Way, Suite D | All-day breakfast, lunch, coffee, cocktails | "Winter 2026-27" |
| Brassica | 8280 Liberty Way, Suite A | Mediterranean fast-casual bowls and sandwiches | "Coming 2027" |
| Teriyaki Madness | 8350 Liberty Way | Made-to-order teriyaki, yakisoba, potstickers | No date posted |
| Whit's Frozen Custard | 8350 Liberty Way | Fresh custard, rotating flavors | No date posted |
| El Rancho Grande | 8350 Liberty Way | 4,300-sq-ft family-owned Mexican restaurant | No date posted |
| Wellness City | 8350 Liberty Way | Red-light therapy, tanning, hydromassage, cryotherapy | No date posted |
| The Tox | 8350 Liberty Way | Bodywork studio | No date posted |
| Veterinarian Emergency Group | 8370 Liberty Way | 24-hour emergency pet care | No date posted |
Café Patachou's timing has already moved. Journal-News earlier reported an early-fall opening. The Indianapolis café's own West Chester page now says "Winter 2026-27." Brassica's locations page lists the Voice of America restaurant as "Coming 2027." The Cincinnati Enquirer calls it a build-your-own bowl and sandwich spot. Journal-News reported a menu with falafel, braised chicken, smoked brisket, and fresh-made pitas, served from a space with a patio.
The rest of the tenant list fills in what Village North will eventually be. You'll be able to get custard after a grocery run, take a pet to an overnight emergency clinic, or book a spa appointment, all at one cluster of addresses on Liberty Way. On November 18, though, the parking lot will serve one tenant. The table above is the most current schedule available for the others.
New Food Is Arriving Faster on Cox Lane
The Village North restaurants are still on their way, but West Chester's restaurant openings aren't waiting for them. Over at Tylersville Corner, Andy Zheng, owner of the Genki Ramen chain, planned a soft opening for Kuku Revolving Sushi at 7735 Cox Lane on October 15, with a grand-opening celebration on October 17. That's according to the Cincinnati Business Courier report carried by Local 12. Handmade sushi travels past diners on a revolving bar. Zheng signed a 10-year lease on the 3,200-square-foot space and put $550,000 into the buildout. The Butler County visitors bureau now lists Kuku at that address. Check its hours before you go.
The two projects show different ways new food is coming to West Chester this fall. Kuku took over an existing storefront in an established shopping center and went from announcement to planned opening in about a week. Village North is building from scratch, so its tenants open one at a time as their spaces are finished, starting with the grocery store.
Late November on Liberty Way
For anyone living near Liberty Way or Cox Road, the new store's first week runs into the busiest grocery week of the year. Opening day is Wednesday, November 18. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. Grocery Pickup starts at some point after opening day, and Mason's last day hasn't been announced. If you need a reliable holiday shop, plan for a store that will be eight days old and for a Mason location whose final schedule is still unknown. The restaurants on the same lot will open later.
When a new grocery anchor opens, people start asking what it means for the homes around it. If you live near Liberty Way or Deerfield Towne Center and want to know how this kind of change shows up in local home values, Andrea Carter can walk you through what's selling nearby and what your home might be worth today. Let's Connect. Get your free home valuation.
