The stores utilized the company’s propriety technology they called “Just Walk Out,” or as some would call “frictionless,” allowing customers to pick what they wanted to buy and simply exit the store, as a plethora of cameras and sensors monitor customers purchases and are automatically charged to their bank accounts.
According to a press report by Geek Wire last week, Amazon will be shuttering 2 locations in Seattle, Washington; 4 in San Francisco, California; and 2 more in New York. The stores will continued to operate until April 1st. The two in Seattle have reportedly been closed already, according to Amazon, due to a rise in crime and drug abuse.
Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way.
We remain committed to the Amazon Go format, operate more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the U.S., and will continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers as we keep evolving our Amazon Go stores.
An Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Nevertheless Amazon does plan to open a new Amazon Go location in Puyallup, Washington, outside the southern side of Seattle. Amazon Go still has five locations in Seattle, and many more in Chicago, Illinois, and Southern California.
A number of stores across the U.S. and abroad are beginning to adopt cashless technology terminals or stores as well.
Amazon, like many other corporations, are hemorrhaging positions to cut some costs due to financial turmoil.
Geek Wire wrote:
The move to tighten its physical retail belt comes exactly a year after Amazon announced it was closing 68 brick-and-mortar stores, including all of its Amazon 4-star, Books, and Pop Up stores. The company said at the time that it planned to focus more on its Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and Amazon Go grocery and convenience stores.
In the time since, Amazon has been hit by the same economic uncertainty as a number of large tech companies. Earlier Friday, Amazon confirmed that it is pausing construction on its HQ2 project in the Washington, D.C., area.
The company laid off 18,000 corporate and tech employees at the end of 2022 and into 2023 — the largest cuts in its 28-year history. CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to employees in January that Amazon Stores (the company’s retail arm) would be among the impacted divisions.
At the end of January, Amazon closed one of two Fresh Pickup locations in Seattle. The facility in the Ballard neighborhood served as a drive-up grocery pick-up service for Amazon Prime members as well as a drop-off spot for package returns.
The Information reported in December that at least seven newly built Amazon Fresh locations in the U.S. are sitting empty as store openings ground to a halt. It referred to the locations as “zombie” grocery stores, and said keeping them in limbo could be a cost-cutting tactic for the tech giant.
In addition, Bloomberg reported last fall that Amazon was closing or abandoning plans for dozens of U.S. warehouses as the e-commerce giant unwound some pandemic-era expansion efforts.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
While this is only a temporary setback for Amazon, the plan to go completely cashless and “frictionless” is in full swing, thought it would appear not everyone is buying into it yet.
[16] And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Revelation 13:16-18
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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This reminds me of what my GM site leader said in the “all hands” meeting November 2022. He said that my building JFK8 is not closing because it’s too important to close. I have been hearing about some fulfillment centers, sort centers, and maybe delivery hubs are closing. Amazon laid off more than 10,000 corporate workers. There is an article about someone from HR who might be hinting about rehiring some of the worker that were laid off.