Amazon is planning to open its first store in its anticipated new grocery chain in Woodland Hills, Calif., in February, according to Progressive Grocer and Yahoo Finance. The first store will open in a former Toys “R” Us space in a strip mall, in the affluent Los Angeles suburb, about 2 miles from a Whole Foods Market.
The location shows Amazon’s desire to stay close to its core Prime members while experimenting with products Whole Foods can’t offer, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at GlobalData, who spoke to Yahoo Finance.
“I think Amazon has probably looked to where its existing customers are and wanted to move into that area,” Saunders said. “So it's going to pull in a more affluent demographic, but it's going to be a much wider spread of customers than Whole Foods will probably attract.” The median household income in Woodland Hills is $85,000, and the town’s median home value is $829,800.
The New York Times reported in July that Amazon was brainstorming a new type of grocery store that would combine traditional shopping with online pickup. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal also reported that Amazon was planning to open dozens of grocery stores in the United States.
Amazon recently launched one- and two-hour grocery delivery of meat, seafood, eggs, produce and other fresh items in Tampa, Fla.
Amazon has more than 575,000 employees worldwide. Under its Whole Foods Market banner, the company is No. 10 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.