Amazon to Close Nearly One-Fourth of Go Convenience Stores — Retail Bum

Amazon is looking to close eight of its Go convenience stores in Seattle, New York City and San Francisco in line with its continued cost-cutting measures.

“Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way,” said Jessica Martin, an Amazon spokesperson.

“In this case, we’ve decided to close a small number of Amazon Go stores in Seattle, New York City, and San Francisco. We remain committed to the Amazon Go format, operate more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the U.S., and will continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers as we keep evolving our Amazon Go stores.”

The stores are expected to close on April 1, 2023, and affected employees will receive assistance from Amazon to secure other roles within the company.

Amazon’s plans to shutter some of its Go locations were first revealed by company executives during its Q4 earnings call. During the call, CEO Andy Jassy also confirmed that the company would pause its expansion efforts for its Fresh grocery chain until it can find a suitable format that met its customers’ needs and made the most economic sense.