Amazon reportedly plans to launch new grocery chain

Amazon plans to launch a chain of grocery stores across the US later this year, according to a Friday report.
The as-yet-unnamed chain will be distinct from Amazon’s upscale Whole Foods Market brand, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Prices are expected to be lower, and product lines wider than those carried by organic-obsessed Whole Foods.
The Journal’s report, which has Amazon’s newest grocery venture opening its first store in Los Angles, follows by days the e-commerce giant’s killing the 365 brand by Whole Foods chain.
The three-year-old 365 chain — also designed for cost-conscious shoppers — will see its nine outlets converted into regular Whole Foods stores by the end of the year.
“Whole Foods prices have been trending down, so it didn’t make a lot of sense to keep the brands separate,” said Loop Capital Markets analyst Anthony Chukumba.
A potentially more appealing model is Amazon Go — the cashier-less convenience store launched in January 2018 to dispense snacks, salads and other grab-and-go food.
Chukumba called the Amazon Go shopping experience “just so easy.”
“If they successfully implement that, it would be a home run,” he said.
Amazon declined to comment on a new grocery chain, and it could not be learned if plans call for the use of Amazon Go’s cashier-less technology and shelf-scanning robots.
The Journal reported that, in addition to Los Angeles, the company is in talks for shopping-center space in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC.
Still, knowing Amazon’s penchant for tinkering and testing, Gordon Haskett analyst Chuck Grom told The Post he didn’t expect the new venture to have any near-term “material impact on the large grocery chains.”
Investors weren’t so sure.
While Amazon climbed 2 percent in Friday trading, Kroger dropped 4.5 percent. Walmart fell 1 percent, and Sprouts Farmers Market was down 0.5 percent.