Supermarket closes three branches - just two years after first opening
Amazon's first ever till-less store in the UK has closed just two years after it first opened.
The Amazon Fresh store in Ealing Broadway west London shut for good on Sunday alongside two other Amazon Fresh stores in Wandsworth and East Sheen.
The unique premise of this grocery store, which first opened in March 2021, was customers could go in and simply walk out with their goods without needing to go to a checkout and pay.
Customers only needed to scan their Amazon app when they entered and were billed from that account when they left.
Amazon told the Mirror that the decision had been made to close the site after an assessment of its "portfolio of stores".
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Staff at the London-based sites have all been offered new roles in nearby Amazon Fresh stores.
Lindsay Campbell, Amazon's Spokesperson said: "Our goal is to build a best-in-class grocery shopping experience where Amazon is the first choice for selection, value, and convenience, including in the UK.
"As part of that, like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way.
"While we decided to close three Amazon Fresh stores, it doesn’t mean we won’t grow—this year, we will open new Amazon Fresh stores to better serve customers in the greater London area.
"We are committed to our investment in grocery, and as we grow we’ll continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers.”
Despite the Covid-19 lockdown at the time, the store was the tech giant’s first Just Walk Out-enabled grocery store outside of the United States.
Amazon's East Sheen branch opened in November of the same year, and Wandsworth the following month.
The number of Amazon Fresh sites reached 19 last year - all in London apart from one in Sevenoaks, Kent.
However, the Amazon Fresh Dalston site was closed earlier this year - less than 18 months after the store was first opened.
Amazon is planning on opening two more stores in the near future with new stores coming to Moorgate and Liverpool Street in London - although it did not confirm a date for the openings.
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The latest closures and new openings will take Amazon's Fresh store count in the UK to 17.
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