January 27, 2026
StreetView/Google Maps
Amazon is closing all of its Fresh grocery stores in the United States, including six in the Philadelphia area, as part of a plan to expand the Whole Foods brand with more than 100 new locations in the next few years. Above, the sign outside the Amazon Fresh in Warrington.
Amazon Fresh, the tech giant's branded grocery store chain, will soon close all locations nationwide as the company looks to expand its Whole Foods Markets and invest in speedier grocery delivery service.
Amazon detailed its plans in a statement Tuesday, saying its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go convenience store brands have failed to meet expectations. The first Amazon Fresh store opened in Los Angeles in 2020 and the chain has since grown to 58 stores, including six in the Philadelphia area.
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"While we've seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven't yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion," the company said.
With the exception of Amazon Fresh and Go stores in California, the last day of operation for all other locations will be Feb. 1.
Amazon will convert some of its Fresh stores into Whole Foods Markets, but the company did not offer details about which locations would make the switch. Amazon said it aims to open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores over the next few years. The chain has grown to more than 550 stores since Amazon acquired it in 2017, and the company said sales at Whole Foods have grown by more than 40%.
Philadelphia's only Amazon Fresh store opened at Sixth and Spring Garden streets in Northern Liberties in August. The 37,000-square-foot space had been rumored to become an Amazon Fresh since 2020, but its opening was delayed several times during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amazon Fresh also has suburban stores in Bensalem, Broomall, Langhorne, Willow Grove and Warrington. The company had permits for additional stores that never opened in Northeast Philadelphia and Havertown.
As part of the pending store changes, Amazon said it plans to offer Fresh employees new roles in other divisions of the company.
When Amazon Fresh made its debut during the pandemic, the company touted a seamless shopping experience with a "Just Walk Out" feature allowing Prime customers to pay for their groceries without stopping at a cash register. That model was later modified with the introduction of tech-enabled carts that scan shoppers' items on the go and then charge the total to their Amazon accounts.
Amazon attempted to tweak its strategy for Fresh stores when it paused new openings in 2023, shutting down some of the earliest locations to develop a new model. Several Fresh stores in the Philly area opened later than originally anticipated. The market in Bensalem opened in 2024, three years after construction permits were issued, and the Willow Grove location that opened a few months later was the subject of a legal battle over allegations Amazon had breached its lease agreement.
Amazon said customers can continue to shop Amazon Fresh online in available areas for delivery. The company offers same-day delivery and began testing 30-minute "Amazon Now" grocery delivery in parts of Philadelphia and Seattle.
Moving forward, Amazon said it will continue experimenting with new store formats. The company has opened five Whole Foods Market Daily shops — smaller grocery stores with grab-and-go items — in New York, New Jersey and Virginia over the past two years. Amazon also suggested it could create new sections for household items at some of its Whole Foods stores to build on a model it introduced at the Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting in November.
