Amazon.com Inc. is shutting down all 87 of its U.S. pop-up stores, ending the retailer’s years long experiment with these small shops and is planning to open dozens of grocery stores and potentially thousands of Amazon Go stores, according to earlier reports.
Amazon, the giant online retailer, is closing all 87 of its U.S. pop-up kiosks, which let customers try and buy gadgets such as smart speakers and tablets in malls, Kohl’s department stores and Whole Foods groceries.
It’s the latest change in Amazon’s bricks-and-mortar retail strategy, which includes bookstores, grocery stores and cashier-less stores.
“Across our Amazon network, we regularly evaluate our businesses to ensure we’re making thoughtful decisions around how we can best serve our customers,” an Amazon spokesperson said Thursday.
Amazon’s 4-star stores let customers browse and try some of the products that are sold on its website that have a customer rating of four stars or better. The company said it will open more 4-star locations and additional Amazon Books stores this year.
The company is planning to open new grocery stores
The company is also planning to open dozens of new grocery stores around the country, with the first expected in Los Angeles sometime this year, according to a separate Journal report last week.
The closures don’t affect cashierless Amazon Go stores. Amazon has considered opening as many as 3.000 Amazon Go locations by 2021, according to a report from Bloomberg in September 2018.
The pop-up kiosks are expected to close by the end of April, The Wall Street Journal reported.