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Slightly misleading title. They're closing 8 of their stores across NYC, SF, etc, and this is after they just opened a few more across the US.

crazygringo 4y ago
And according to Google Maps there are 9 Amazon Go stores in NYC right now, so this would still leave 7. Which is just business as usual, figuring out which stores in which locations turn out to be most profitable.
- philistine 4y ago
  You're right, but it's weird for such a tech-focused company to close stores in such a fashion, because we're used to the giant margins of tech. Apple has never closed that many stores that quickly.
  - crazygringo 4y ago
    Apple stores are famous for being some of the most profitable stores mankind has ever created. And there aren't that many of them. These Amazon stores are just local convenience stores. They're selling candy bars. And Amazon is a much more "experimental" company than Apple -- they launch and shut down stuff all the time to iterate and learn. This isn't about penny-pinching or margins, it's about finding product-market fit.
ilikehurdles 4y ago
That’s a completely misleading title then.
- gowld 4y ago
  HN removes numbers from titles, as an anti-clickbait tactic, but it leads to errors like this.
sosodev 4y ago
They built one of these near us (years ago) and never opened it. They recently announced that it was going to remain unopened indefinitely.
bogomipz 4y ago
From the article: >"The retailer also opened a number of locations last year in Southern California. As of last month, Amazon operated 31 Go stores in total." >"With these closures, the company will have 23 Go stores, the spokesperson said." That's a loss of 8 stores.
- ilikehurdles 4y ago
  It's a loss of 8 Go stores, but Amazon has been ramping up the Amazon Fresh grocery stores over the last 2 years. There are 33 Amazon Fresh stores from my count.
  - bogomipz 4y ago
    Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh are two distinct and different retail entities. The subject of the post is specifically Amazon Go. That being said, on the most recent earnings call Amazon also announced that they were "pausing" the rollout of Fresh stores. “We’ve decided over the last year or so that we’re not going to expand the physical Fresh doors until we have that equation with differentiation and economic value that we like, but we're optimistic that we're going to find that in 2023,” [1] [1] https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/amazon-halts-fresh-rollout-shutters-stores https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/amazon-halt...
TAKEMYMONEY 4y ago
The actual title is "Amazon Go closing 8 of its c-stores," the HN post title is misleading
cavisne 4y ago
And the 2 “closed” in seattle have been boarded up for some time, they are in an area that became even higher crime during Covid and never really recovered.
- lazyasciiart 4y ago
  More accurately: they are in an area that dropped to zero foot traffic during covid and never really recovered. I think the literal number of people that go past the store on 6th is lower than the number of crimes committed in most areas.
- btgeekboy 4y ago
  One of those stores was only accessible by badged Amazon employees, too. It was basically just a grab and go cafeteria for them.
buzzert 4y ago
> after it opened a location in Puyallup, Washington that follows its larger suburban-focused format. Sounds like they’re focusing on the suburban market instead. Related to rising crime in the cities maybe?

crazygringo 4y ago

And according to Google Maps there are 9 Amazon Go stores in NYC right now, so this would still leave 7. Which is just business as usual, figuring out which stores in which locations turn out to be most profitable.

philistine 4y ago
You're right, but it's weird for such a tech-focused company to close stores in such a fashion, because we're used to the giant margins of tech. Apple has never closed that many stores that quickly.
- crazygringo 4y ago
  Apple stores are famous for being some of the most profitable stores mankind has ever created. And there aren't that many of them. These Amazon stores are just local convenience stores. They're selling candy bars. And Amazon is a much more "experimental" company than Apple -- they launch and shut down stuff all the time to iterate and learn. This isn't about penny-pinching or margins, it's about finding product-market fit.

ilikehurdles 4y ago

That’s a completely misleading title then.

gowld 4y ago
HN removes numbers from titles, as an anti-clickbait tactic, but it leads to errors like this.

sosodev 4y ago

They built one of these near us (years ago) and never opened it. They recently announced that it was going to remain unopened indefinitely.

bogomipz 4y ago

From the article: >"The retailer also opened a number of locations last year in Southern California. As of last month, Amazon operated 31 Go stores in total." >"With these closures, the company will have 23 Go stores, the spokesperson said." That's a loss of 8 stores.

ilikehurdles 4y ago
It's a loss of 8 Go stores, but Amazon has been ramping up the Amazon Fresh grocery stores over the last 2 years. There are 33 Amazon Fresh stores from my count.
- bogomipz 4y ago
  Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh are two distinct and different retail entities. The subject of the post is specifically Amazon Go. That being said, on the most recent earnings call Amazon also announced that they were "pausing" the rollout of Fresh stores. “We’ve decided over the last year or so that we’re not going to expand the physical Fresh doors until we have that equation with differentiation and economic value that we like, but we're optimistic that we're going to find that in 2023,” [1] [1] https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/amazon-halts-fresh-rollout-shutters-stores https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/amazon-halt...

TAKEMYMONEY 4y ago

The actual title is "Amazon Go closing 8 of its c-stores," the HN post title is misleading

cavisne 4y ago

And the 2 “closed” in seattle have been boarded up for some time, they are in an area that became even higher crime during Covid and never really recovered.

lazyasciiart 4y ago
More accurately: they are in an area that dropped to zero foot traffic during covid and never really recovered. I think the literal number of people that go past the store on 6th is lower than the number of crimes committed in most areas.
btgeekboy 4y ago
One of those stores was only accessible by badged Amazon employees, too. It was basically just a grab and go cafeteria for them.

buzzert 4y ago

> after it opened a location in Puyallup, Washington that follows its larger suburban-focused format. Sounds like they’re focusing on the suburban market instead. Related to rising crime in the cities maybe?