3 New York City Amazon Go stores close their doors

Amazon closed three of its cashierless Amazon Go convenience stores in New York City in late September, the company has confirmed for CSP Daily News. The Sept. 27 closures at 11 West 42nd Street, One Liberty and 30 Rockefeller Center were first reported by The Information.

“When a lease comes up for renewal, it is standard business practice for retailers to evaluate their store portfolio and decide if it is best to renew or to close the location,” Molly McWhinnie, Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement provided to CSP. “In this case, while these three stores were performing well, we couldn’t make the economics work with the lease cost, so we’ve decided not to renew and have closed these locations.”

Two Amazon Go locations at 200 Vesey Street and 150 E. 53rd Street Customers in New York City remain open.

“We remain committed to the Amazon Go format and will continue to refine our portfolio of stores as we learn which locations and features resonate most with customers and work for our business,” ­ McWhinnie said.

The Seattle-based company has a total of 17 Amazon Go locations nationwide, in Seattle, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, including a store opened in Bellevue, Washington, on July 31. The 1,400-square-foot location showcases local vendors such as Macrina Bakery, Molly’s Salads and Alki Bakery.

Amazon continues to offer its Just Walk Out cashierless technology as an Amazon Web Service offering to third-party retailers. The technology is currently available in more than 190 third-party locations at airports, stadiums, universities, hospitals and more in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, the company said, including its own U.S. Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores.

It recently announced a new artificial intelligence (AI) model for Just Walk Out technology that it said further increases its accuracy. For retailers, the new AI system makes Just Walk Out faster, easier to deploy and more efficient, and for shoppers, this means access at more third-party checkout-free stores worldwide, according to the company.

The online retailer continues to invest in and refine its brick-and-mortar grocery strategy, it said, with the Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market physical retail businesses.

Whole Foods Market recently introduced Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, a new small-format store designed to provide customers in urban neighborhoods a fast, convenient shopping experience. Ranging between 7,000 and 14,000 square feet, the size of some traditional convenience stores, the locations are about a quarter to half the footprint of an average 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store.

The retailer opened the first Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, a 9,101-square-foot store, at 1175 Third Avenue in New York City’s Lenox Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side, with locations slated for the East Village’s StuyTown and in Hell’s Kitchen.

This story was originally featured on CSP Daily News, a sister publication of Supermarket News.