Amazon On The Hunt For Larger Whole Foods Locations To Serve As Distribution Hubs
Amazon is betting on its online delivery business by investing in bigger Whole Foods Market locations across the U.S.
Though the locations would be Whole Foods stores, they would also include storage facilities that would hold electronics, books and fitness gear from Amazon's website. The stores would be nearly twice as large as current Whole Foods locations, ranging between 50K SF and 80K SF, Bloomberg reports.
While it is unclear at this time whether backrooms would be solely for delivery personnel or whether customers would be allowed to browse and buy in a similar manner to Best Buy stores, the move is meant to consolidate business operations and provide faster delivery to customers with locations being scouted in areas where there are large numbers of Amazon Prime subscribers.
Whole Foods is also working to convert parking areas into stalls dedicated to Amazon delivery contractors, Bloomberg reports. Amazon has also been rumored to have an eye on vacant Toys R Us stores, which could act as showcases for electronics lines like Alexa and Echo, or be used as distribution centers for both grocery and online merchandise.
