Executive Briefing

61 questions — and some answers! — about Amazon’s new grocery store

Depending on Amazon’s ambition and execution, this has the potential to be really interesting — or not.

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Amazon is opening a new grocery store — not part of Whole Foods — in Los Angeles next year.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Amazon’s broader plans to start its own grocery chain back in March, and again in October. More recently, some information about Amazon’s first grocery store — in an old Toys ‘R’ Us plot — has emerged through job postings, filings, and local news photos. One curious detail, for example: The store’s proposed (pdf) hours of operation are from 6am to 2am (!) daily.

Depending on Amazon’s ambition and execution, this has the potential to be really interesting — or not.

More than just a power grab for Amazon — founder Jeff Bezos has long wanted to conquer the grocery market — it’s an opportunity to rethink and redefine how a mass-market grocery store works for its customers and suppliers. Using 2020 technology and point-of-view, Amazon has the chance to design the grocery store for the next several decades. And I don’t mean a cashier-free Amazon Go convenience store. But, does it want to?

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Dan Frommer

Hi, I’m Dan Frommer and this is The New Consumer, a publication about how and why people spend their time and money.

I’m a longtime tech and business journalist, and I’m excited to focus my attention on how technology continues to profoundly change how things are created, experienced, bought, and sold. The New Consumer is supported entirely by your membership — join now to receive my reporting, analysis, and commentary directly in your inbox, via my twice-weekly, member-exclusive newsletter. Thanks in advance.

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