Amazon said Tuesday it is closing all of its physical Go and Fresh grocery stores and investing more in Whole Foods in a significant change to its yearslong brick-and-mortar plans.
The company said it will turn “various” Go and Fresh stores into Whole Foods locations, though it did not specify how many would be converted and how many would be shuttered altogether.
“After a careful evaluation of the business and how we can best serve customers, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores,” the retail giant said in a blog post.
“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.”
Amazon declined to share how many Go and Fresh employees will be impacted, adding that it’s “working whenever possible to help find them roles elsewhere in Amazon.”
Customers will be able to continue shopping at Amazon Fresh online in available areas.
The company plans to focus its investments on Whole Foods Market, opening more than 100 new Whole Foods stores over the next few years.
It has also launched five Whole Foods Market Daily Shops, which are smaller neighborhood stores that sell grab-and-go meals, coffee and everyday essentials.
It plans to open five more Daily Shops by the end of 2026.
Amazon also said it will open new kinds of locations, including a “mass physical store format.”
In 2017, Amazon spent a whopping $13.7 billion on Whole Foods – the biggest deal in its history as it appeared determined to break into the retail grocery space.
It followed up by launching its Fresh grocery chain in 2020, but it was a rocky rollout – abruptly closing some locations soon after their debut and pausing the expansion plan.
In 2023, it opened the doors to its revamped Fresh store line-up.
But that momentum didn’t last long, either, as the company closed all of its UK-based Fresh stores last September, and several California locations soon after.
Amazon’s Go stores – known for their attention-grabbing “Just Walk Out” technology – debuted in 2018, decked out with cameras and sensors throughout the store that tracked which items customers picked up as they browsed shelves.
Instead of waiting in a line for a cashier, customers could simply exit the store and receive an automatic charge for their grocery haul.
But Amazon retreated on that undertaking, too, ending the contactless cashier system at Go stores in 2024.
Since then, the company has been trying to sell its checkout-free shopping system to major venues like sports stadiums and concert arenas.
More recently, the company has been investing in its same-day delivery options and tying the Whole Foods business closer to its own grocery division.
Last year, it tapped Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel to run its worldwide grocery business while continuing to lead Whole Foods.
Amazon has also been testing a “store within a store” concept that allows customers to order Amazon products at certain Whole Foods locations from automated warehouses attached to the stores.
