Amazon’s pause on expanding Amazon Fresh supermarkets was an evaluation period, not the company’s latest plan. In January 2026, Amazon announced it would close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go physical stores, while keeping Amazon Fresh grocery delivery available in areas it served. Amazon said the stores had not yet delivered a distinctive customer experience and the economics needed to expand at scale.
Why did Amazon pause expansion of Fresh grocery stores?
In a 2023 report, the Associated Press described Amazon as pausing expansion of its Amazon Fresh supermarkets while it looked for a formula that could scale. The company’s stated challenge was that it had not found the right combination of customer appeal and economics for broad expansion.
In its later announcement, Amazon put the rationale this way: “While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.” That is Amazon’s explanation, not an independently audited account of store performance. The announcement did not disclose store-level profitability.
The pause and the subsequent closure decision are related stages in Amazon’s grocery strategy, but the available sources do not document a complete causal path between them.
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Is Amazon Fresh closing its stores?
Yes. In January 2026, Amazon announced it would close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go physical stores and convert various locations into Whole Foods Market stores. The Associated Press reported a California timing exception, but a location-by-location conversion schedule was not provided.
This decision superseded the 2023 expansion pause: Amazon was no longer describing a wait-and-see period for Fresh supermarkets, but a plan to close the physical Fresh and Go stores. The closure announcement concerns stores, not the Amazon Fresh online grocery service. Amazon said customers could continue ordering Amazon Fresh online where the service was available.
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Where Amazon says it is focusing its grocery business
Amazon described a greater emphasis on delivery and Whole Foods Market, alongside experiments in other formats. The figures below are claims and plans published by Amazon, not independent measurements or guaranteed results.
| Area | What Amazon reported or planned |
|---|---|
| Grocery delivery | Amazon said it offered grocery delivery in more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns, in an announcement updated May 12, 2026. It said it introduced fresh perishables into Same-Day Delivery in 2025 and planned to extend the service to more communities in 2026. |
| Fresh-grocery Same-Day Delivery | Amazon said perishable grocery sales through Same-Day Delivery had grown 40 times since January 2025, in its announcement updated May 12, 2026. Separately, CEO Andy Jassy said in his 2026 shareholder letter that perishable sales had grown by over 40 times since the service’s early-2025 introduction. These are differently worded company claims from separate sources, not independent corroboration. |
| Whole Foods Market | Amazon said Whole Foods had more than 550 locations and that it planned more than 100 additional stores over the next few years, including expansion of the smaller Daily Shop format. These plans do not establish when or where particular stores will open. |
| Other grocery and retail experiments | Amazon said it was testing Amazon Now, an ultra-fast delivery service, and continuing experiments including Amazon Grocery, a store-within-a-store experience, and exploration of a supercenter concept. These are separate from Amazon Fresh supermarkets; the announcement did not say Fresh-store expansion was restarting. |
Amazon’s 2026 shareholder letter also said its grocery business generated more than $150 billion in gross sales in 2025. That is a company-wide figure, not a Fresh-store revenue or profit measure. In the same letter, Jassy said fresh-grocery Same-Day Delivery was available in more than 2,300 U.S. towns and cities. Amazon’s announcement separately reported grocery delivery in more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns; the figures refer to differently described services and should not be treated as contradictory or interchangeable coverage counts.
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What the decision means for customers and investors
For customers, the practical distinction is between Amazon Fresh as a physical supermarket and Amazon Fresh as an online grocery service. Amazon announced closures for the stores but said online Fresh would continue where available. The company’s delivery and Whole Foods plans indicate where it says it will focus, but availability and future store openings depend on execution and local coverage.
For investors and anyone assessing Amazon’s retail strategy, the key issue is not simply whether grocery demand exists. Amazon cited the need for a distinctive in-store experience and economics that support large-scale expansion. Its published sales, customer and delivery figures show the scale it says the broader grocery business has reached; they do not establish that Fresh supermarkets were profitable or explain the decision store by store.
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- Help Organize Your Kitchen and Pantry— Imagine every time walking to your kitchen or pantry, found everything is neatly organized. No longer messy, you can get everything you want very quickly. With the stackable and space-saving design, these containers will make more efficient use of every inch of your kitchen pantry cabinets.
- 4 Size Combinations Fit Your Needs — Our kitchen storage container set comes in 4 different sizes. Includes 2 Tall Container (2.5quart/2.8 liters), 10 Large Containers (1.8quart/2.0 liters), 10 Medium Containers (1.5quart/1.6 liters), 10 Small Containers (0.7quart/0.8 liters). Perfect for storing spaghetti, baking supplies, cereal, flour, sugar, oats, pasta, rice, coffee, tea, snacks, nuts and other dry goods.
- Airtight Containers Keep Food Fresh — The side-locking lids with silicone gasket make these storage containers airtight, and the top flips open easily. The airtight storage system will always keep your food dry and fresh. All have the same lids make it easy to wash dry and reuse with ease.
- BPA Free and Food Grade Material — Vtopmart pantry storage containers are made of durable plastic, BPA free, which have a longer life than many other brands plastic containers. Clear containers make it convenient to see what’s inside, you can easily get what you want without opening every container.
- 32 Reusable Labels — Except 32pcs dry food storage containers, you will also receive 32pcs labels. They are reusable, you can switch contents whenever you need. Just wipe clean with a damp cloth to change what you have written, Peel and Re-stick.
Amazon also said it had more than 150 million customers shopping groceries each year, in its announcement updated May 12, 2026. This is a company-reported annual customer figure, not a count of Fresh-store shoppers.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known—and what Amazon has not disclosed
- Stated rationale: Amazon said it had not yet achieved the customer experience and economic model required to expand its branded physical grocery stores at scale.
- Announced action: Amazon said it would close Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go physical stores, with various locations becoming Whole Foods Market stores.
- Online service: Amazon said Amazon Fresh online would remain available in areas it served.
- Unspecified details: The cited sources do not provide store-level financial results, a complete closure and conversion schedule, or an independently verified explanation of the decision.
Amazon’s 2023 public position was that physical retail remained important and that it was investing in a grocery business spanning Fresh, Whole Foods, Go and third-party partnerships. That statement, reported by the Associated Press and attributed to spokesperson Kristen Kish, predates the 2026 closure decision; it should be read as historical context rather than a description of Amazon’s current store plan.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
