An worker arranges a salad dressing show at an Amazon Fresh grocery retailer on December 12, 2024 in Federal Way, Washington.
David Ryder | Getty Images
Amazon is closing 4 extra Fresh supermarkets in Southern California because the e-commerce big continues to focus its grocery technique round Whole Foods and supply.
The closures will happen in the approaching weeks, Amazon confirmed to CNBC. They observe the shuttering of 4 different U.S. places in current months, in Washington, Virginia, New York and a Los Angeles suburb.
“Certain locations work better than others, and after an assessment, we’ve made the decision to close these Amazon Fresh locations,” Amazon spokesperson Griffin Buch stated in a press release. “We’re working closely with affected employees to help them find new roles within Amazon wherever possible.”
At one Fresh grocery store in La Verne, California, workers have been advised to collect for an all-hands assembly on Wednesday, in keeping with an inside message seen by CNBC. They realized on the assembly that the shop would shut in mid-November, and that workers would obtain a severance package deal, in keeping with an individual accustomed to the matter who requested to not be named as a result of the main points have been confidential.
The different three stores which can be closing are in cities of Mission Viejo, La Habra and Whittier.
Last week, Amazon stated it intends to close 14 Fresh grocery stores in the U.Okay. and convert its 5 different places there into Whole Foods markets.
Amazon stated it often evaluates its retailer portfolio, which may result in opening, reopening, relocating or closing sure places. In the U.S., the corporate has greater than 60 remaining Fresh stores. Last 12 months, the corporate eliminated its “Just Walk Out” cashierless expertise from the stores. It’s additionally been culling its footprint of Go cashierless comfort stores.
Amazon has been decided to change into a major grocery player for practically 20 years. The firm launched Amazon Fresh in 2007, then a pilot challenge for recent meals supply, earlier than buying upscale chain Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017, its largest buy on report.
Amazon debuted its Fresh grocery chain in 2020, with a watch towards mass-market buyers. The rollout has been turbulent since its early days.
The firm opened a flurry of Fresh places by 2022, however the growth plans bumped into CEO Andy Jassy’s (*4*) as the corporate reckoned with the impression of rising rates of interest and hovering inflation. In 2023, Amazon introduced it will shut some Fresh stores and halt additional openings briefly because it evaluated methods to make the chain stand out for buyers.
While it is closing Fresh stores, Amazon continues to “innovate and invest in making grocery shopping easier, faster, and more affordable,” Buch stated. The firm nonetheless maintains 500 Whole Foods places and has opened mini “daily shop” Whole Foods stores in New York City.
On Wednesday, Amazon additionally launched a brand new “price-conscious” grocery model that will likely be supplied on-line and in its bodily stores. And final month, Amazon expanded same-day delivery of recent meals to extra pockets of the U.S.
Jassy and different firm executives have touted the success of gross sales of “everyday essentials” inside its on-line grocery enterprise, which refers to gadgets corresponding to canned items, paper towels, dish cleaning soap and snacks. Jassy advised buyers on the firm’s annual shareholder assembly in May that he stays “bullish” on grocery, calling it a “significant business” for Amazon.
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