Jeff Helbling, vice president of Amazon Fresh Stores, told Supermarket News in April that new Amazon Fresh locations this year were planned for California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington state and New Jersey, though he didn’t specify the number of units or an opening timetable. In terms of new stores and added square footage, real estate and investment management firm Jones Lang LaSalle ranked Amazon Fresh as the sixth-fastest-growing grocer in 2021, behind Aldi, Publix, Grocery Outlet, Giant Eagle and Sprouts Farmers Market. Seattle-based Amazon opened the first Amazon Fresh store, a 35,000-square-foot location in Woodland Hills, Calif., in late August 2020, and then less than two years later unveiled the banner’s 30th location, a 35,000-square-foot store in Murrieta, Calif., on May 5 of this year. Next after California and Illinois in number of Amazon Fresh stores are Washington state (four locations) Virginia (three) and Maryland, Pennsylvania and D.C. That’s more than twice the 14 locations Amazon Fresh had in mid-June 2021.
The new locations, save for the Lorton and Arlington sites yet to open, expand the Amazon Fresh banner to 33 stores in six states and the District of Columbia. Both of those stores also offer Just Walk Out functionality. The company opened its 15th California location under the banner - the state with the most Amazon Fresh outlets - on June 2, a 35,000-square-foot store in Huntington Beach. Related: Amazon Fresh grows from concept to competitorĪlso on June 9, Amazon launched a 40,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh in North Riverside, Ill., marking its eighth store in Illinois. With the addition of new stores, 17 of Amazon Fresh's 33 locations now provide Just Walk Out technology, while the rest of the stores offer the Amazon Dash Cart "smart" shopping cart, which has similar functionality. The retailer didn’t give a size for the Arlington store but said all three of the new Virginia locations would offer its Just Walk Out cashierless technology, which enables customers to pay for their items without waiting at the checkout line. Another Amazon Fresh is slated to open in Arlington “in the coming weeks,” Amazon said. A 45,000-square-foot store opened in Manassas on June 9, and a 38,000-square-foot location in Lorton is set to open its doors on June 23. Most recently, the company unveiled plans for three new Amazon Fresh stores in northern Virginia.
Related: Amazon global consumer CEO Dave Clark to depart Those additions come after the e-tail giant last month said it has begun hiring for the first Amazon Fresh locations in New York and New Jersey. This month, Amazon announced five new Amazon Fresh stores, three of which have opened. "We collect sales tax, or its equivalent, in well over 50 percent of the jurisdictions in which we operate around the world, and we're doing quite fine.Amazon has shifted into high gear with the expansion of its Amazon Fresh supermarket banner, more than doubling the number of stores a year ago. "We will collect when it's required by law," he said. The move means Amazon will have to start collecting sales taxes on Illinois sales once the center is open next year, but Amazon vice president Paul Misener said that should not be an issue. There will be a variety of facilities around the state, and certainly we're looking in this area, but elsewhere around the state as well." "This process is going to take some time, but we want to begin it starting now, with the goal of having a first facility opening up and running here in Illinois next year," Misener said. CHICAGO (CBS/AP) - Online retailer Amazon will be building a $75 million distribution center in Illinois, and investing in 1,000 full-time jobs, creating its first facility in the state.Īmazon was conducting a site selection process to find a location for the warehouse, and the Chicago area was being considered, but Vice President Paul Misener suggested it would be just one of possibly several facilities the company eventually would build in Illinois.