Amazon revealed that it is planning to open a non-Whole Foods grocery store next year in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. The 35,000 square foot store will occupy a space vacated by Toys R Us. It will include standard checkout lanes, unlike its Amazon Go locations.
According to reports, the online shopping giant has signed at least a dozen leases for grocery stores in the Los Angeles area. Chicago and Philadelphia are other target markets.
Marketplace Pulse Founder Jouzas Kaziukenas told TechXplore that Amazon is mining data about the grocery business through Whole Foods and its other projects.
“They’re trying to understand what you need to run a grocery supply chain and how to take that supply chain and, in particular, apply it to online grocery delivery,” Kaziukenas said.
Amazon purchased Whole Foods in 2017 and last month began offering two-hour grocery delivery in about 2,000 U.S. cities at no extra charge.