Amazon Changing Grocery Plans in Plymouth Meeting

The online giant Amazon announced on Tuesday, Jan. 27, that it is closing its Fresh grocery and cashierless Go convenience stores as it moves away from brick-and-mortar retail.

According to Amazon, some physical store locations will be converted into Whole Foods Market stores. Amazon Fresh, however, will remain as an online-only brand, the company stated.

"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 stated in a news release shared with CBS News.

The following New Jersey and Pennsylvania stores will be affected by the closures, according to a FOX8 News report: 

Launched more than 20 years ago, Amazon's grocery business records gross sales of more than $150 billion annually. The company purchased Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion.

Amazon also highlighted further testing of its “store within a store” experience, which allows shoppers at a Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, to shop and pick up Amazon orders.

In their heyday, Amazon Go stores used technology that allowed registered customers to select items from store shelves and walk out without needing to check out at a register.

News of the store closures also coincided with another big announcement from Amazon on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The company is eliminating approximately 16,000 jobs in the latest round of mass layoffs for the technology industry. This latest downsizing follows a round of job cuts in October, when Amazon laid off 14,000 workers.

"While we're making these changes, we'll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future," said Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at the ecommerce company, in a statement.