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Dive Brief:
- Amazon opened its second Amazon Fresh store in New Jersey on Thursday, the company said in an emailed announcement.
- The new supermarket in Eatontown features the updated brick-and-mortar format that the retailer unveiled at stores in Chicago and Southern California last year.
- The new location signals Amazon is pushing forward with efforts to revamp its troubled brick-and-mortar supermarket chain.
Dive Insight:
With the addition of the new Eatontown store, Amazon’s website now lists 42 Amazon Fresh locations across eight states. In November, the chain listed 44 stores in the U.S.
Located at 137 Route 35, the new store spans approximately 35,500 square feet and includes a selection of prepared foods, international condiments and sauces alongside typical grocery offerings. The store carries items from more than 75 local brands including Abe's Muffins, Chloe's Pops and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and also has Amazon private brands such as Aplenty, Fresh Brand and 365 by Whole Foods Market.
Doorbuster deals seen June 19, 2024, at the Amazon Fresh in Eatontown, New Jersey.
Courtesy of Amazon Fresh
The location offers customers the ability to use Amazon Dash smart carts, the company’s palm-scanning Amazon One technology and Alexa kiosks in the aisles.
Amazon opened its first Amazon Fresh store in New Jersey in 2022.
A Dash Cart in use at the store.
Courtesy of Amazon Fresh
Less than three years after launching brick-and-mortar Amazon Fresh stores, Amazon pressed “pause” on the store fleet’s growth in February 2023 to assess how to improve the chain’s economics and differentiation.
Last fall, the company revealed updates, including the addition of around 3,000 more items, to the grocery format at stores in Chicago and Southern California that Amazon said aimed to fill the “gaps” that many Fresh shoppers face. “There are some clear fundamentals that every grocer needs to get right. And we need to improve on that,” Claire Peters, then-vice president of retail at Amazon, said in an interview at the time.
Amazon has also tinkered with the delivery fee for Amazon Fresh and pulled its Just Walk Out checkout-free technology from Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S.
Earlier this year, Amazon closed its Amazon Fresh store in Washington, D.C., along with one in Arlington, Virginia, and one on Pike Street in Seattle.
“We remain committed to grocery, and will selectively open new Amazon Fresh stores as we see positive customer feedback on the new format, as well as continue to open new Whole Foods Market stores,” Amazon said in an emailed statement about the Eatontown store.
Amazon Fresh is reportedly readying to open a store this summer in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, Virginia.
Amazon Fresh’s U.S. footprint
As of June 24, 2024, the grocery chain has more than a third of its stateside stores located in California
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Catherine Douglas Moran, Khareem Sudlow
