Amazon built its in-person grocery brand on the promise that shoppers could “just walk out.” On Thursday in Seattle’s Central District, they couldn’t even walk right in.
A line of more than 30 people stretched from the door of the Amazon Fresh store at 23rd and Jackson for much of the afternoon, ebbing and flowing as employees let shoppers in 15 at a time. Many waited more than 30 minutes. It was an unexpected farewell for a retail experiment built on the promise of streamlining grocery shopping.
Amazon announced this week that it’s closing all of its Fresh grocery and Go convenience stores, many of them on Sunday. The news sent bargain hunters rushing to stores across the country after word of 50% clearance discounts spread on TikTok and Instagram.
In announcing the closures, Amazon said it wasn’t able to create “a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.”
Many of those in line were less interested in Amazon’s business justifications than in the impact of the closure on the neighborhood and their lives.
The closures are part of a broader reset at Amazon, which is also laying off an additional 16,000 corporate employees this week as CEO Andy Jassy works to streamline operations. Some people in line questioned the timing of it all, noting that Amazon had remodeled and opened new stores in recent years.
They’re “throwing money away,” one shopper said. “I don’t understand it.”
Stacey Beaver, who grew up down the street, remembers when a Red Apple grocery stood on the same site. It was demolished to make way for the mixed-use Jackson Apartments development, where Amazon Fresh opened in 2021. The closure leaves residents with a 10-minute bus ride or a 30-minute walk from the nearest major grocery store in either direction.
Many people in the neighborhood don’t drive and depended on having a grocery store within walking distance. A bus ride or a long walk to the nearest alternative is a real barrier.
“Now you have nothing,” Beaver said.
Marco Vertucci, who lives a few blocks away, was a regular. He liked being able to drop off Amazon returns and get store credit, and he appreciated the Dash Cart — the high-tech shopping cart that scans items and tracks your total as you shop.
“Sometimes you have a whole cart and you’re like, ‘Oh, shit, I didn’t mean to spend $200,’” he said. “This way you can actually track what you get.”
He found out about the closure Tuesday from a friend who texted him an article. “I’m not a huge fan of Amazon,” he said. “But just the convenience of it.”
Some described a store that never quite caught on. Foot traffic was sparse, shoplifting was common, and several regulars said they weren’t surprised by the closure.
Others had never set foot in an Amazon Fresh before Thursday. They’d seen the sale trending on TikTok and came for the deals. For them, a physical store never made much sense.
Amazon Prime, one first-time store shopper said, is for delivery.
Amazon is betting on that. The company is shifting focus in part to same-day Amazon Fresh delivery, which is now available in 2,300 U.S. cities and towns. Amazon says perishable grocery sales through the service have grown 40-fold since January 2025, with fresh items now making up nine of the top 10 most-ordered products in areas where it’s available.
It also plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores over the next several years, expanding the chain it acquired for $13.7 billion in 2017. Some Fresh stores will be converted into Whole Foods. Amazon hasn’t said whether 23rd and Jackson will be one.
Some of the technology Amazon developed for its Fresh and Go stores will live on. For example, a redesigned version of the Dash Cart is rolling out to Whole Foods locations.
The “Just Walk Out” system — which uses overhead cameras and sensors to let customers skip checkout — was phased out of Fresh stores in 2024 in favor of Dash Carts, but remained a core technology in Amazon Go convenience stores until the end.
It now operates in more than 360 third-party locations, including hospitals and sports arenas.
Amazon is discontinuing its Amazon One palm recognition system, which let customers enter stores and pay by scanning their hand. The company cited limited customer adoption. A terminal inside the 23rd and Jackson store displayed the message: “Amazon One palm authentication services will be discontinued at retail businesses on June 3, 2026.”
Once we made it inside the store on Thursday afternoon, we found shelves about half empty and aisles packed with shoppers filling their carts. Lines were as long as six people deep at checkout.
A sign on the freezer case read, “Low prices, here to stay.” The shelves behind it were bare.
Read the full article here
