Amazon to close 8 Go convenience stores in latest cost-cutting moves

Amazon plans to close eight of its cashier-less Go convenience stores in Seattle, New York City, and San Francisco, marking the company’s latest round of cost-cutting moves. The affected stores — two in Seattle, two in New York City, and four in San Francisco — will close on April 1 and will operate as usual until then, Amazon said. Both Seattle locations have been closed for some time. “Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email. “We remain committed to the Amazon Go format, operate more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the U.S., and will continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers as we keep evolving our Amazon Go stores.” Despite the closures, the company said it will continue to open Go stores, including its new location in Puyallup, Washington. Last year, Amazon opened its first suburban Go store in Mill Creek, Washington. The retail giant also said it’s working with affected employees to identify other roles at the company, including other nearby Go stores. The first Amazon Go store opened to the public in 2018 at the company’s Seattle headquarters. The stores feature Just Walk Out technology that allows customers to skip the checkout line, as sensors and cameras detect what shoppers take off the shelves. The news of the store closures comes after Amazon paused construction of its second headquarters, known as HQ2, in Virginia following the company’s biggest round of layoffs. The Amazon Go closures were previously reported by Geekwire.