Amazon’s e-commerce sales platform has wreaked havoc on brick-and-mortar retailers since founder Jeff Bezos launched the company as an online bookseller in September 1995.
Within four weeks, the company had built the largest inventory of books in the world to sell on the internet, according to the company’s first press release in October 1995.
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“Our motto is ‘If it’s in print, it’s in stock,” Bezos said at the time.
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The company began expanding to other retail concepts in June 1998 with the launch of its music store, then in November 1998 added videos and a holiday gift store.
The Seattle-based company continued adding retail concepts, such as computer and video games, toys and hobbies, beauty store, camera and photo store, wireless phones, office products, new-car buying service, online auctions, travel store, and the list kept growing.
Several brick-and-mortar retailers couldn’t compete with Amazon’s online sales over the last 25 years, and many filed for bankruptcy and disappeared from the retail world, including bookstore chains Borders and Waldenbooks and video and music chains Blockbuster Inc., Hollywood Video and Music Gallery.
Most recently in June 2024, DVD retailer Redbox’s parent company Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment filed Chapter 7 liquidation and closed its business.
Amazon began opening brick-and-mortar shops in 2015
Amazon, however, took a 180-degree turn away from exclusive online sales when it began opening brick-and-mortar stores of its own with an Amazon Books store in Seattle in 2015. The bookstore chain grew to 24 locations before the company closed all stores by 2022.
In 2017, Amazon expanded into the grocery business with its purchase of Whole Foods.
The retail giant also opened its first Amazon Fresh grocery store in Woodland Hills, Calif., in 2020 and has expanded the chain to 63 stores, according to data provider Scrapehero.
Amazon launched another brick-and-mortar concept in 2018 with Amazon Go convenience stores, with the first location also in Seattle. The chain, which closed three stores in New York in October 2024, currently has 16 locations, according to its website.
Amazon Go is closing another store in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Image source: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Amazon Go closes another store
And now, Amazon will close another Amazon Go location in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Feb. 26, a company spokesperson said, according to C-Store Dive.
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Amazon did not reveal the reason for closing the suburban Los Angeles location but did say that the store was shutting down after a portfolio assessment.
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With the Woodland Hills closing, Amazon will have shut down about half of its Amazon Go convenience stores in California, Illinois, New York, and Washington, since it hit its peak of about 30 stores in early 2023.
Amazon opened its Woodland Hills store in 2022 with its “Just Walk Out” feature. Customers could enter the store using the Amazon app, a credit card or Amazon One to open the entry gate and start shopping for items.
Patrons could choose items and place them in their own bags or an Amazon Go bag as they shopped. When they were finished, they walked through the exit gate and were electronically charged for the items they took.
The Woodland Hills store also was a part of Amazon Go’s new suburban format store concept when it opened, offering an expanded selection of grab-and-go food and beverage items, and a broader range of beer, wine, and everyday essential items.
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