Amazon closes all Fresh and Go stores, pivots grocery strategy to Whole Foods

SEATTLE — Amazon announced Tuesday it will close all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores across the country as the e-commerce giant shifts its focus to other business priorities.

The company said in a statement that it plans to convert several of the locations into Whole Foods Market stores. While most Amazon Fresh and Go locations are scheduled to close by Feb. 1, stores in California will remain open longer to comply with state regulations.

The move will shutter the only Amazon Fresh in San Diego County, a Poway location that just opened in late 2024.

Moving forward, Amazon intends to open more than 100 new Whole Foods locations and double the number of its "Whole Foods Market Daily Shop" convenience stores. The company also teased a new "supercenter" model but did not provide further details.

Amazon currently ranks as one of the top three grocery retailers in the United States, with annual revenue exceeding $150 billion.

Amazon’s decision to shutter its Fresh and Go storefronts signals a definitive admission that its high-stakes experiment in automated, proprietary physical retail has faltered. The much-vaunted "Just Walk Out" technology, once touted as a paradigm shift, ultimately failed to scale effectively or achieve cost-parity with the entrenched operational models of legacy grocery chains.

The subsequent pivot toward Whole Foods represents a strategic retrenchment. Rather than attempting to build a new brand from the ground up to challenge the dominance of Walmart and Kroger, Amazon is consolidating its resources behind a proven asset with established brand equity and a loyal, high-income demographic. In a tightening retail environment, this is a calculated move to minimize risk while maintaining a foothold in the physical market.

The struggles of Amazon Fresh and Go offer a broader cautionary tale for the industry: technology is not a panacea. The fundamental pillars of retail—pricing, product assortment, and geographic convenience—continue to dictate consumer behavior. For Amazon, the high operational overhead associated with autonomous checkout systems appears to have outweighed the marginal utility of the convenience provided.

However, the company’s nascent plans for a new "supercenter" model suggest that Amazon’s ambitions for large-scale physical retail remain intact, albeit in a redesigned format. This evolution points toward a more direct confrontation with Walmart and Target, as Amazon seeks to synthesize its superior online logistics with the traditional advantages of big-box retail space.

Amazon’s strategic shifts primarily impact the broader U.S. retail landscape and grocery shopping habits for all consumers, including the Vietnamese-American community. To date, there has been no documented specific or disproportionate effect on the unique sectors that define our community, from the small businesses in Little Saigon to the nail salon industry or our local phở restaurants.