An Amazon Go store in downtown Bellevue is set to close as part of a broader decision by Amazon to shut down its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go brick-and-mortar grocery locations.
The Bellevue store, Amazon Go #IBF2, is located at 10819 4th St. NE. Amazon announced on January 27 that it plans to close its Amazon-branded grocery and convenience stores as it shifts focus to grocery delivery and its subsidiary, Whole Foods Market.
The company confirmed that several locations across Washington state will be affected. In addition to the downtown Bellevue Amazon Go, other Amazon Go stores scheduled to close include locations in Mill Creek, Puyallup, and multiple sites in Seattle.
Three Amazon Fresh grocery stores in Washington are also slated for closure, including the Factoria location in Bellevue at 3901 Factoria Square Mall SE.
According to Amazon, some Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations will be converted into Whole Foods Market stores. The company stated Tuesday that it plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods locations over the next several years.
In a blog post announcing the closures, Amazon said, “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 added, “We will also continue inventing on behalf of customers to develop a mass physical store format that brings customers distinctive selection, value, and convenience. Over the coming years, we plan to introduce new store concepts that we think customers will be excited about.”
Amazon launched its cashier-less Amazon Go convenience store concept in 2018 and later expanded into full-scale grocery with Amazon Fresh. Over the years, the company experimented with various store formats and technology-driven shopping experiences while continuing to refine its approach to physical retail.
In its announcement, Amazon said it is shifting investments away from Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, describing the effort as a learning experience. The company is instead prioritizing grocery delivery and Whole Foods, which it acquired in 2017 for $13.7 billion.
Locally, eight Amazon Go stores and three Amazon Fresh locations in Washington state are expected to close following Sunday.
In addition to its expansion plans, Amazon is also piloting a new “store within a store” concept at a Whole Foods location in Pennsylvania, featuring name-brand products not typically found in the natural-foods-focused chain.
Amazon has not released specific closure dates for individual locations beyond confirming that the impacted stores will cease operations soon.
It wasn’t prime time ready. Lets hope they bring back the 365 store.
It’s really a shame to read about the closures of the Amazon Go and Fresh series. I really enjoyed both concepts, although I didn’t get a chance to frequent them. I guess it was really bad timing for a great concept.
Andrea Mackey
I think you should take a lesson from Trader Joe’s, great food and lower prices. Whole Foods just got too expensive!!! We need more foods that are healthy, but also tastes great!