Amazon to Close Most Go and Fresh Stores, Cutting 16,000 Corporate Roles
Amazon will close nearly all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores within days, converting select locations into Whole Foods outlets to bolster its grocery chain footprint. The Seattle-based retailer also announced cuts of 16,000 corporate positions, marking its second major layoff phase in three months to streamline operations.
1. Rapid Closure of Amazon Go and Fresh Stores
This week, Amazon announced it will shut down nearly all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations within days, with the final operating day set for Sunday except in California, where stores will remain open longer due to state requirements. The company plans to convert a subset of these sites into Whole Foods Market outlets. Since acquiring Whole Foods in 2017, Amazon has driven over 40% sales growth at the chain and expanded to more than 550 stores, and it intends to open over 100 new Whole Foods locations in the coming years. Concurrently, Amazon’s grocery delivery service now reaches 5,000 U.S. cities and towns, offering same-day delivery of perishables in many areas, and will roll out same-day service to additional markets this year. Amazon also previewed plans for new “supercenter” stores combining groceries with general merchandise, though details remain scarce. The company will continue deploying its cashier-less “Just Walk Out” technology—tested in its Go stores—to more than 360 third-party sites and is installing it in breakrooms at over 40 North American fulfillment centers to streamline employee meal purchases.
2. Second Wave of Corporate Layoffs and AI-Driven Restructuring
On Wednesday, Amazon confirmed it will eliminate approximately 16,000 corporate roles worldwide, marking its second major round of job cuts in three months (following 14,000 cuts in October). In a blog post, Senior Vice President Beth Galetti explained that the reductions support a leaner organizational model with fewer management layers, increased ownership and accelerated decision-making. Galetti emphasized that this restructuring is not driven by financial distress, but by Amazon’s strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence and efficiency gains. U.S.-based employees affected by the cuts will have a 90-day transition period with full pay and benefits, severance packages and access to outplacement services including one-on-one career coaching, resume assistance and job-search support. Amazon also reaffirmed its commitment to continue hiring in high-priority areas, even as it reallocates resources from bureaucracy toward growth initiatives.