Amazon To Close Its Fresh And Go Grocery Stores After Announcing 16K Job Cuts

Amazon announced its changes after announcing that it would cut 16,000 corporate jobs, its second round of mass layoffs in three months.

Amazon plans to close nearly all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations soon, refocusing on food delivery and its grocery store chain, Whole Foods Market.

The company said in a blog post that the shuttered stores will be converted into Whole Foods Market. Amazon announced its changes after announcing that it would cut 16,000 corporate jobs, its second round of mass layoffs in three months.

“While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion,” the company said Tuesday about the store closings.

According to the Associated Press, Amazon purchased Whole Foods Market in 2017 and has since seen more than 40% sales growth, with expansion to more than 550 locations. Amazon opened its first Amazon Go location in Seattle in 2018, allowing customers to purchase items such as milk and ready-to-eat items from its shelves and simply walk out using revolutionary technology that allowed customers to bypass cash registers. Customers were charged upon leaving the store.

Amazon Plans To Expand Whole Foods Locations Amid Go, Fresh Closings

According to Amazon, the company is one of the top three grocers in the U.S., with over $150 billion in gross sales and more than 150 million customers shopping for groceries each year.

“Everyday household essentials represent one out of every three units sold on Amazon.com, as customers increasingly look to our broad selection, low prices, and fast delivery to fill their fridges and pantries,” the company stated.

The e-commerce giant said it plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods Market stores over the next few years.

Simultaneously, Amazon said more shoppers are choosing online delivery. The online retailer said it now delivers to 5,000 U.S. cities. Customers can access the same-day delivery of fresh produce.

The last day of operation for Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores is Sunday, Feb. 1, except for its California location. The stores in California will remain open longer to comply with state requirements, Amazon said.