Quick Read
- Amazon will close all 57 Amazon Fresh and 15 Amazon Go physical stores across the U.S.
- Most closures will be effective by February 1, 2026, with California locations closing 45 days later.
- The company will invest in opening over 100 new Whole Foods Market stores and expanding its Daily Shop format.
- Amazon is accelerating online grocery delivery, including Same-Day Delivery and testing ultra-fast ‘Amazon Now’ service.
- Just Walk Out technology, developed in Amazon Go stores, will continue to expand in third-party locations and Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
WASHINGTON D.C. (Azat TV) – Amazon has announced a significant strategic realignment in its multi-billion dollar grocery ambitions, confirming it will close all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go physical stores across the United States. The decision, effective largely by February 1, 2026, will see the company double down on expanding its Whole Foods Market footprint and accelerating its online grocery delivery services, including the popular Same-Day Delivery option.
The closures affect all 57 Amazon Fresh supermarkets and the remaining 15 Amazon Go convenience stores. While most locations are slated to cease operations by this Sunday, February 1, stores in California will remain open for an additional 45 days due to state labor notification requirements, as reported by GeekWire. Amazon did not disclose the total number of employees impacted but stated it is working to place workers in other roles across its vast operations network, offering 90 days of full pay and benefits as part of its severance package.
A Strategic Pivot Towards Whole Foods and Online Delivery
This move marks the latest pivot in Amazon’s decade-long effort to establish a dominant presence in the highly competitive U.S. grocery market. The company stated that while its Amazon-branded physical grocery stores showed ‘encouraging signals,’ they had not yet achieved a ‘truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.’
In contrast, Amazon is significantly increasing its investment in Whole Foods Market, which it acquired in 2017. The company plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods Market stores over the next few years, building on the brand’s success which has seen over 40% sales growth and expansion to more than 550 locations since the acquisition. This expansion includes the smaller-format Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, which offers curated grab-and-go meals and everyday essentials, with five new locations planned by the end of 2026.
Concurrently, Amazon is accelerating its online grocery delivery services. The company highlighted that it is already one of the top three grocers in the U.S., with over $150 billion in gross sales annually. It plans to expand its Same-Day Delivery of fresh groceries to many more communities in 2026. This service, which allows customers to shop for perishables alongside millions of other items, has seen perishable grocery sales grow 40-fold since January 2025 in areas where it is available. Additionally, Amazon is testing ‘Amazon Now,’ an ultra-fast delivery option aiming to bring thousands of essential items, including fresh food, to customers’ homes in about 30 minutes or less in several cities.
Leveraging Innovation Amidst Closures
Despite the closure of its branded physical stores, Amazon emphasized that it gained valuable insights from their operation. Notably, Amazon Go locations served as innovation hubs where the company developed its ‘Just Walk Out’ technology. This checkout-free solution has proven scalable, now operating in over 360 third-party locations across five countries, including hospitals and sports arenas, and in more than 40 of Amazon’s own fulfillment center breakrooms, with more planned for 2026.
Some of the closing Amazon Fresh and Go locations are slated to be converted into Whole Foods Market stores, indicating a direct repurposing of existing real estate. Amazon also mentioned it would continue to invent for customers, including testing new physical store experiences such as Amazon Grocery, launched alongside Whole Foods Market in Chicago, Illinois, and exploring a new ‘supercenter’ physical retail concept designed to combine fresh groceries, household essentials, and general merchandise, similar to a Walmart Supercenter, as reported by Business Insider. The company recently won approval to build a 230,000-square-foot ‘supercenter’ in Orland Park, Illinois.
A Broader Reset for Amazon’s Retail Footprint
This strategic shift is part of a broader reset at Amazon, following previous closures of its bookstores and other retail concepts in recent years. CEO Andy Jassy has attributed such cuts to a need to streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy after years of rapid growth. The company is also preparing for another wave of corporate layoffs, according to GeekWire. The grocery market remains fiercely competitive, with Americans spending over $1 trillion annually, making it a critical sector for Amazon’s long-term growth.
The decision to consolidate Amazon’s physical grocery presence under the Whole Foods Market brand, while aggressively expanding online delivery, underscores a clear strategic prioritization of proven models and customer convenience over experimental retail formats. This move reflects Amazon’s ongoing adaptation to consumer preferences and its determination to secure a larger share of the lucrative grocery market by leveraging its strengths in logistics and established brand affinity.