Amazon Fresh Store Closures: What's Happening?

🇺🇸 US Search Volume: 20K+ searches

On January 27, 2026, Amazon made a shocking announcement. The company officially announced it would close all Amazon Fresh grocery stores and Amazon Go cashierless convenience stores. This marks the end of Amazon's key initiative to enter the physical grocery retail market.

Scale and Timeline of Closures

Amazon currently operates 58 Amazon Fresh stores and 14 Amazon Go stores across the United States. Most stores are scheduled to close on Sunday, February 1st, while California locations will remain open longer to comply with state law requirements for advance closure notifications.

Some locations will be converted to Whole Foods Market stores, though the company has not yet disclosed which specific locations will undergo this transformation.

Why Are People Searching for This Trend?

This announcement has generated significant interest for several reasons:

1. Massive Job Impact

The closures will result in thousands of part-time store employees losing their jobs. Dozens of corporate staff reductions are also expected. Amazon will provide affected employees with 90 days of pay and benefits, career transition services, and severance packages.

2. Failure of Amazon's Physical Retail Strategy

Amazon Fresh first opened stores in 2020, targeting mainstream market consumers. Despite attempting to provide an innovative shopping experience using cutting-edge technology, the company admitted it "failed to create a truly differentiated customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion."

3. Limitations of 'Just Walk Out' Technology

Amazon Go was launched in 2018 as a key project under Jeff Bezos, featuring cashierless store chains. The system used ceiling-mounted cameras and sensors to track items customers picked up from shelves, automatically charging them as they left the store. However, this technology never achieved the ubiquitous expansion seen with companies like Starbucks.

4. Strategic Pivot

Amazon announced it will focus on online grocery delivery and Whole Foods Market expansion instead of physical stores. The company plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods locations in the coming years.

Amazon's Grocery Business Status

Amazon's grocery business generates over $150 billion in annual total revenue, making it one of the top three grocery retailers in the United States. The company provides grocery delivery services in more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns, with same-day delivery available in over 2,300 communities.

Amazon acquired Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion, the largest acquisition in Amazon's history. Since the acquisition, Whole Foods has grown revenue by more than 40% and expanded to over 550 stores.

Future Plans

The Amazon Fresh brand will continue to operate online, allowing customers to access fast and convenient delivery services. Additionally, the company is developing a new "supercenter" format for large-format stores, which will offer fresh groceries, household essentials, and general merchandise all in one location.

Amazon stated it will "continue to innovate for customers" and plans to keep testing new physical store experiences, such as Amazon Grocery in Chicago or "store-within-a-store" experiences at Whole Foods locations in Pennsylvania.

Industry Expert Opinion

Neil Saunders of GlobalData commented, "The main reason for this decision is that neither Fresh nor Go stores achieved the sales volume needed to secure economic viability," adding that "this should not be interpreted as a signal that Amazon is abandoning the grocery category."

This closure represents the latest retreat from Amazon's private-brand physical store business, which began in 2015 with the opening of offline bookstores. Amazon has attempted physical stores across various categories, from groceries to fashion, featuring technological elements like digital price tags and new payment methods, but has not succeeded.

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