Amazon, the e-commerce and cloud computing giant, made a leap into branded brick-and-mortar with Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores. That leap is over. The company announced Tuesday it is closing all of its Fresh and Go stores nationwide as it focuses on other areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a careful evaluation of the business and how we can best serve customers, we\u2019ve made the difficult decision to close our Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, converting various locations into Whole Foods Market stores,\u201d the company said in a blog post Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The change impacts San Diego County\u2019s only Amazon Fresh store, which opened in Poway on Pomerado Road in late 2024.<\/p>\n
The last day of operation for Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores is Feb. 1, with the exception of its California stores, which will remain open longer to comply with state requirements, Amazon said.<\/p>\n
More Whole Foods, faster groceries<\/p>\n
Amazon said it plans to open more than 100 Whole Foods Market stores in the coming years. There are three Whole Foods Markets in San Diego County: in Hillcrest, La Jolla and Del Mar. A store in east, inland or south San Diego County would fill a void for the brand in this market. The company post did not share details about where new stores are coming.<\/p>\n
Amazon also said it will expand its smaller, convenience store format called Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, doubling the number of these stores, from five to 10, in 2026.<\/p>\n
It is also planning a \u201cnew supercenter\u201d brick-and-mortar concept for customers to shop Amazon\u2019s wide selection of fresh groceries, household essentials and general merchandise. The company didn\u2019t provide any other details.<\/p>\n
Across its brands, Amazon\u00a0is one of the top three grocers in the U.S., with more than $150 billion in annual gross sales, its blog post said.<\/p>\n
In parallel, Amazon has been revving up its grocery delivery service. \u201cPerishable grocery sales through this Same-Day service have grown 40x since January 2025, and fresh groceries now make up nine of the top ten most-ordered items in areas where perishable groceries are available for Same-Day Delivery,\u201d it wrote. It also introduced an \u201cultra-fast\u201d delivery program \u2014 under 30 minutes \u2014 in Seattle and Portland.<\/p>\n
In Poway, the 44,500-square-foot store opened in November 2024, after a delay. Amazon paused the Amazon Fresh rollout as it revised the look and feel of stores. Even as it introduced Amazon Fresh stores nationwide, it was committed to opening more Whole Foods Market stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmazon already has a large online grocery business and millions of products available for fast delivery, but if you want to serve as many grocery needs as we do, you have to offer customers great selection, value and convenience \u2013 not just online, but in physical stores, too,\u201d Griffin Buch, an Amazon spokesperson, said then. \u201cWe remain committed to grocery, and will selectively open new Amazon Fresh stores as we see positive customer feedback on the new format, as well as continue to open new Whole Foods Market stores.\u201d<\/p>\n