Amazon To Launch New Grocery-Store Business Separate From Whole Foods (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Amazon is planning to open dozens of grocery stores in several major U.S. cities (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), according to people familiar with the matter, as the retail giant looks to broaden its reach in the food business. The company plans to open its first grocery store in Los Angeles as early as the end of the year, one person said. Amazon has already signed leases for at least two other grocery locations with openings planned for early next year, this person said. The new stores would be distinct from the company's upscale Whole Foods Market brand, though it is unclear whether the new grocery chain would carry the Amazon name. Amazon is also exploring an acquisition strategy to widen the new supermarket brand by purchasing regional grocery chains with about a dozen stores under operation, one person said. The new stores aren't intended to compete directly with Whole Foods, these people said. The new chain would offer a wider variety of products than what is on the shelves at the more upscale Whole Foods stores. The company is reportedly in talks to open grocery stores in shopping centers in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

Comments

Amazon Go

[mobby_6kl]

They already have at least a couple of no-checkout Go stores so I would expect that this is what they would expand, rather than come up with yet another concept, but the article doesn't really clarify.

The creepiness factor of being watched aside, the store I tried in Seattle was one of those "just works" experience that felt like magic. On the downside, it was pretty small with a limited selection of groceries, so I wonder how well it would scale to a much larger store if that's what they're going for.