Amazon Closing All of its Grocery Stores in Illinois

This week, Amazon announced it would be ending its grocery store experiment by closing all locations of two different franchises under the company's vast umbrella.

Per Fox 32 Chicago, Amazon will be shuttering all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores. A few years ago, one of the Amazon Fresh locations opened in my hometown, Westmont, IL. It was abuzz for a few months before the hype gradually dissipated. Although I've never set foot inside the store, I've heard from friends that the store's stock was consistently low seeing as the locations doubled as outlets for Amazon's grocery delivery service.

READ MORE: Southwest Fast Casual Chain Opens First Illinois Location

The End of Amazon's Brick and Mortar Grocery Stores:

Amazon said the shuttering of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations are a move that will allow the Seattle-based company to focus on grocery delivery, Whole Foods Market, and a new "supersized" store concept. 57 Amazon Fresh Stores and 15 Amazon Go stores exist; several of both exist in Illinois alone, including in places like:

• Chicago (Amazon Fresh)
• Naperville (Amazon Fresh)
• Oak Lawn (Amazon Fresh)
• Schaumburg (Amazon Fresh)
• Westmont (Amazon Fresh)

Amazon revealed the news in a blog post they released this week:

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 - Amazon's blog post, per Fox 32 Chicago

The last day of operation for Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores will be February 1st; California locations will remain open longer to comply with state requirements.

About Amazon's Grocery Store Venture:

Even with Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations closing, the company will still retain ownership of the Whole Foods Market chain, which it acquired in 2017. Amazon plans to open 100 new Whole Foods Market stores over the next several years, while still employing a grocery delivery service via online ordering.

Per Fox 32 Chicago, over 5,000 cities and towns in the United States are eligible for Amazon grocery delivery. But this move doesn't mean Amazon is permanently exiting the physical retailer space. The aforementioned "supercenter" is a work-in-progress, and would feature everything from grocery items to household essentials and general merchandise. There's no timetable for its opening, but it appears to be in the works.

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One of the more unique features of Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores was the innovate concept of being able to "walk out" when you finished shopping. It was unpretentiously named "Just Walk Out" technology. The cart itself tracked your purchases and would charge your Amazon Prime account upon confirmation of purchase; at least how I understand it.

Read more about Amazon sunsetting two of its brick and mortar grocery store chains on Fox 32 Chicago's website.