Amazon to launch new grocery store concept in LA

Amazon plans to open a new line of grocery stores in California next year, the company confirmed to CNET.

An Amazon-branded grocery store will launch in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills in 2020, CNET reports. Amazon said the store will be different from Whole Foods and would not compete against Whole Foods, although it did not clarify what the store’s name or price range would be or what products it would carry.

The store will feature conventional checkout and won’t use Amazon Go cashierless technology, Amazon told CNET.

A job posting describes the store as “Amazon’s first grocery store.” The company is hiring for a full-time “zone leader” managin an in-store zone with a starting pay rate of $16.90 per hour, according to the listing.

The online shopping giant purchased Whole Foods in 2017 for $13 billion but remains a relatively small player in the grocery business. It recently removed a $15 monthly fee for Amazon Fresh grocery delivery in a bid to undercut rival Walmart, which currently commands the lion’s share of the nation’s grocery market.

The company is also in talks to open grocery stores in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the Wall Street Journal reported in March.