Amazon Fresh expands in SoCal

Amazon is continuing to expand its Amazon Fresh store footprint in Southern California.

First covered by Store Brands’ sister publication Progressive Grocer, three new locations are slated to open in the coming weeks: the Mission Viejo location (26940 Crown Valley Parkway) opens April 21, the La Verne location (2229 Foothill Boulevard) will open on April 28, and the Murrieta location (40481 Murrieta Hot Springs Road) will open on May 5. All three stores are approximately 35,000 square feet.

The expansion in California follows new Amazon Fresh stores planned for opening in Virginia. Amazon Fresh locations saw increased traffic to close out 2021, partly fueled by own brand offerings.

Once all three locations are open, there will be 30 Amazon Fresh stores across the country, with 14 locations in Southern California alone. The first Amazon Fresh grocery store debuted August 2020 in Southern California in Woodland Hills.

Like other locations, the three new SoCal stores will offer Just Walk Out Shopping, giving customers the option to skip the checkout line. Customers who opt for Just Walk Out Shopping can enter the store by scanning the In-Store QR code in their Amazon app, using Amazon One, or inserting a credit or debit card to open the Just Walk Out gates. Once inside the store, customers can shop like normal. Anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart. At the end of their trip, customers shopping with the Just Walk Out experience simply scan or insert their entry method again to exit.

In an interview with Progressive Grocer earlier in the year, Jeff Helbling, VP of Amazon Fresh, said that the Amazon grocery store experiment has been a big success so far.

“Our efforts to evolve our grocery experience into a seamless omnichannel offering have been well received by customers — and the industry,” he said.