Amazon to close Fresh and Go stores, refocus on Whole Foods

Online sales giant Amazon will close all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores across the country. In a press release published to its website, the retailer says it’s refocusing its grocery strategy toward same-day fresh delivery and expanding its Whole Foods market footprint. The Seattle-based company initially announced plans to convert some Fresh and Go locations into Whole Foods Market stores and open more than 100 locations over the next several years. However, the strategy seems to have changed.

In recent months, the marketplace has closed multiple locations in Southern California, Washington, Virginia, New York, and Los Angeles, as well as 14 others in the UK.

“Customers can continue to shop Amazon Fresh online in available areas for fast and convenient delivery,” the firm states. “We're grateful to our team members for their many contributions over the years and are working whenever possible to help them find roles elsewhere in Amazon”.

The e-commerce giant currently operates 58 Amazon Fresh and 16 Amazon Go locations. The first Fresh store opened outside Los Angeles in September 2020, while Go debuted in Seattle in 20218.

More Whole Foods, new formats ahead

The closing of IRL Amazon stores doesn’t mean the company is giving up on brick-and-mortar. 

The firm says it will continue to test physical retail concepts tied to the category. These include Amazon Grocery, a private-label brand featuring over 1,000 food items thatdebuted alongside a Whole Foods Market in Chicago, and a store-within-a-store format at Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.

“We will also continue inventing on behalf of customers to develop a mass physical store format that brings customers distinctive selection, value, and convenience,” the firm says.

The company also plans to develop a mass-market physical store format and introduce new concepts, including a supercenter-style model combining groceries, household essentials, and general merchandise. Amazon expects to open its first supercenter, measuring about 230,000 square feet, near Chicago late next year.

At the same time, Amazon is expanding same-day fresh grocery delivery, which it launched in August. The company says customers in more than 1,000 cities and towns currently have access to same-day delivery for fresh groceries, with plans to reach more than 2,300 US locations by the end of 2025.

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