Amazon Closes Fresh, Go Stores to Focus on Grocery Delivery and Whole Foods Expansion

Ecommerce giant Amazon announced today it will close all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh brick-and-mortar stores to focus on expanding its same-day grocery delivery services and Whole Foods Market footprint.

The decision was driven, in part, by Amazon’s struggle to establish a “truly distinctive customer experience” and an economic model to support large-scale expansion, per the announcement. Consumers will still be able to shop Amazon Fresh online in select areas. An undisclosed number of Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations will be converted to Whole Foods Markets.

Amazon claims it is one of the top three grocers in the U.S., with over $150 billion in annual gross sales. It has struggled to catch up to behemoths like Walmart and Kroger since adding groceries to Amazon.com roughly two decades ago.

While ecommerce still represents a relatively small share of grocery shopping, it continues to grow. U.S. online grocery sales climbed 32% to a record $12.7 billion in December 2025, according to the latest Brick Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey. The performance reflects higher-order frequency, spending rates and a larger user base.

Amazon currently offers Same-Day Delivery services to over 5,000 cities and towns across the country, including selections from Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and local retail partnerships with stores like Weis Markets, Winn-Dixie, and Metropolitan Market. It will expand the service to more communities in 2026.

Last year, the online retailer added perishables to Same-Day Delivery, a move that has proven fruitful; perishable grocery sales through the delivery service have grown 40x since January 2025, and fresh groceries now account for nine of the top 10 most-ordered items in areas where the service is available. Amazon is also testing Amazon Now, an “ultra-fast delivery option” that brings essential items, including fresh food, to consumers’ homes in 30 minutes or less.

In addition to growing its Same-Day Delivery service, Amazon will double down on its investment in Whole Foods, which it acquired for $13.7 billion in 2017. The combined efforts have created an organization spanning more than 550 locations, including a Daily Shop small-format store that will expand to 10 locations in 2026. According to Amazon, Whole Foods sales have increased 40% since the merger.

Earlier this year, Amazon absorbed all Whole Foods employees and corporate staff into its core business structure as part of its continued streamlining efforts.

Despite the closures of Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh, Amazon isn’t giving up on branded physical retail. In the coming years, it plans to introduce new big-box concepts, including a new 225,000 sq. ft. store located in the Chicago suburb of Orlando Park, Ill., that will sell groceries alongside general merchandise.

“We will continue to invent for customers, including testing new physical store experiences like Amazon Grocery, which we launched alongside Whole Foods Market in Chicago, Ill., or our store-within-a-store experience in the Whole Foods Market in Plymouth Meeting, Penn.,” notes the announcement. “These experiences make it easier for customers to shop our extensive grocery collection all in one place.”