Amazon closes Fresh grocery store south of Seattle; state filing says 125 workers impacted – GeekWire

Amazon closed a Fresh grocery store in Federal Way, Wash., the company confirmed on Monday. The store’s last day of business was Sunday.

“Certain store locations work better than others, and after an assessment of our offering we’ve decided to close our Amazon Fresh store in Federal Way,” Amazon spokesperson Griffin Buch said in a statement to GeekWire.

A filing by the Washington state Employment Security Department said the closure would impact 125 workers, with an effective separation date of Aug. 19. Amazon said all store employees are being supported through the transition and will have the opportunity to transfer to roles at nearby sites.

A post on Reddit at the end of last week first alerted that the store was closing in four days, less than three years after it opened.

Buch said Amazon remains committed to its grocery offerings and will continue to refine its portfolio of stores as it learns which locations and features resonate most with customers.

The store opened on Aug. 11, 2022, in an old Sears location at The Commons, a mall at 1928 S. Commons in Federal Way, 22 miles from Seattle.

The Federal Way Mirror reported at the time that hundreds of people lined up at dawn outside the store for the chance to receive gift cards of varying amounts and Amazon Fresh tote bags.

An Amazon-owned Whole Foods store also closed on Seattle’s Capitol Hill last week, seven years after opening at the base of a luxury apartment tower at the corner of Broadway and Madison Street. Amazon cited performance and growth potential in a statement about that closure.

In April 2024, Amazon closed a Fresh grocery store in the same neighborhood at 610 E. Pike St., four years after it first opened as an Amazon Go Grocery.

There are 64 Amazon Fresh locations in the U.S. In the Seattle region, there are still Fresh stores on South Jackson Street and on Aurora Avenue North. There is also a store in Bellevue.

From the initial launch of Amazon Fresh in 2007 to the $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017 and beyond, Amazon has had mixed results in grocery.

Over the past few years the company introduced new store formats, closed some stores, paused and restarted expansion, and shifted away from its “Just Walk Out” checkout-free technology in its large format Fresh stores.

According to Amazon, its recent redesign of many Amazon Fresh stores has resonated with customers, with average monthly customer spend in store increasing by more than 20%.

More recently Amazon has launched small format “Daily Shop” Whole Foods stores and an automated micro-fulfillment center co-located within a Whole Foods store.

Amazon said it had more than $100 billion in gross sales of groceries and household essentials in 2024, excluding sales from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh.

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