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Second Amazon Go store opens its doors

Downtown Seattle location features smaller grocery selection

Russell Redman

August 29, 2018

3 Min Read
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Amazon.com Inc. has opened its second Amazon Go convenience store, with two more on the way.

The company confirmed that it opened a 1,450-square-foot Amazon Go store yesterday in downtown Seattle at 920 5th Ave. The new location is a corner store like its slightly larger predecessor, an 1,800-square-foot unit at 7131 7th Ave. in Seattle that opened in January.

Amazon declined to provide additional details about the new Amazon Go. According to published reports, the second Seattle store has largely the same cashierless, food and beverage-focused shopping experience as the first location but with a narrower selection.

For example, the 5th Avenue store has a more limited grocery assortment — excluding staples like bread and milk — and sells beer and wine but not liquor. Food offerings include convenience-store mainstays like snacks and drinks along with ready-to-eat, to-go breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options. Fresh prepared foods, however, are supplied via an off-site Amazon facility rather than an in-store kitchen.

Shoppers use the Amazon Go mobile app to enter the store, and Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology enables a checkout-free shopping experience. Overhead cameras, weight sensors and deep learning technology detect merchandise that shoppers take from or return to shelves and keep track of the items selected in a virtual cart. When customers leave the store, the Just Walk Out technology automatically debits their Amazon account for the items they take and then sends a receipt to the app.

Related:Amazon Go seen as welcome grocery option

In mid-May, Seattle-based Amazon confirmed plans to open Amazon Go stores in Chicago and San Francisco but didn’t provide a timetable or details about the locations.

The expansion of Amazon Go, along with the acquisition of Whole Foods Market a year ago, signal Amazon’s efforts to ramp up its brick-and-mortar presence in the retail food arena.

On Tuesday, Amazon marked the acquisition’s anniversary by listing the benefits since completing the merger and integrating its Prime membership program into Whole Foods stores. Those include an additional 10% off sale items throughout the store plus weekly deep discounts on select products for Prime members; two-hour delivery on Whole Foods groceries through Prime Now (currently in more than 20 cities; and grocery pickup in as soon as 30 minutes at select Whole Foods locations.

Amazon Lockers in Whole Foods stores also enable customers to have products shipped from Amazon.com to their local store for pickup, and they can send returns back to Amazon during a trip to the store. Prime members, too, can use Alexa to add Whole Foods groceries to their Prime Now cart. Convenient

Related:Cashier-free tech makes debut in San Francisco

There’s also added selection, the companies note. Whole Foods private-label products — including 365 Everyday Value, Whole Foods Market, Whole Paws and Whole Catch — are now available through Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry and Prime Now. And Amazon devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Fire TV, Kindle e-reader and Fire tablets are available in over 100 Whole Foods stores.

“Making Whole Foods Market’s natural and organic foods more affordable and accessible without compromising the industry-leading quality that shoppers trust has been a top goal since the beginning,” Jeff Wilke, CEO of worldwide consumer at Amazon, said in a statement. “In just one year, we’ve made significant progress bringing the combined value of Whole Foods Market and Amazon together.”

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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