Back in February we told you about Amazon’s plans to expand its autonomous Go grocery store locations in 2018. A new report from the Seattle Times details the retail giant’s plans to open new storefronts in both Chicago and San Francisco, two natural locations for this service.
The rollout of Amazon’s cashier-less shopping experience has been slow from the outset, as it spent most of 2017 in beta. There’s still plenty of questions about the long-term viability of this project, but Amazon seems to be moving forward despite some initial hiccups.
Amazon first signaled its entry into the world of groceries nearly a year ago when it acquired Whole Foods. In that time, it’s rolled out a number new perks for Prime members and Whole Foods customers. This laid the groundwork for the opening of its first Go location in Seattle, which has served as the only store that Amazon has opened to date.
We detailed potential landing spots for subsequent locations back in February, as cities like Los Angeles seemed like a natural fit. Reports went as far to label the popular Grove shopping center as the next Go storefront.
Back in February, Curbed noticed a building permit for a Chicago Amazon store, which seemed to signal an impending arrival later this year. It turns out, that thinking was right on track.
The Chicago location is slated to open in Thompson Center, a popular shopping area in the Windy City. It’s set to be nearly 3,000-square feet in size, with the actual retail section taking up just over 600-square feet. Chicago is a natural fit for Amazon, as it already has a physical Amazon Books location and was considered as a potential second headquarters location.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Amazon Go is slated for Union Square, a heavily populated shopping center. Unlike Chicago, the California location doesn’t seem to be as far along at this point. Amazon recently alerted city planners of its impending build, but official reps are not confirming plans at this point.
Amazon is expected to open a handful of other Go locations throughout the second half of 2018. I visited the first location last summer and was pleasantly surprised by the ease of checkout and how the entire operation functioned. There’s still some hiccups to be resolved along the way, but it’s nice to see Amazon follow-through on its plan to expand this service throughout the United States.
Where would you like to see more Go grocery store locations pop-up? Let us know in the comments below.
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