EVERETT— The Amazon Go store in Mill Creek will close Sunday as part of a nationwide restructuring of Amazon’s retail grocery business.
The online retailer announced the closure of all of its cashless Amazon Go convenience stores and its Amazon Fresh grocery stores in a press release on Tuesday.
The Mill Creek store, which opened in April 2022 at 132nd Street and 39th Avenue NE, is less than four years old.
“While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion, ” an Amazon press release said. “After a careful evaluation of the business and how we can best serve customers, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, converting various locations into Whole Foods Market stores.”
It’s unclear whether the Amazon Fresh Store would be converted to a Whole Foods. Amazon owns Whole Foods, which has one location in Snohomish County in Lynnwood at 2800 196th St SW. A state filing from Amazon on Wednesday said the Mill Creek store would be permanently closed and that 17 employees would lose their jobs. In total, Amazon said 401 employees at its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores in Washington were having their positions eliminated.
Amazon, without providing specifics, stated in the notice that employees who accept internal transfers can retain employment with the company.
The Amazon website shows there were only 16 Amazon Go stores in the U.S., including three in Seattle and one in Bellevue. The Mill Creek store and other Amazon Go locations featured Amazon’s so-called “Just Walk Out” shopping experience. It enabled consumers to register a credit card in advance and shop without scanning any items or waiting in a checkout line.
The high-tech Amazon Go Store in Mill Creek offered a selection of groceries, as well as grab-and-go items such as snacks and beverages.
Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com.
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