Whole Foods Market expands as Amazon Fresh closes stores

With Amazon having announced it is in consultation regarding the planned closure of 19 Amazon Fresh stores, the e-commerce giant proposes converting five of those sites to the Whole Foods Market portfolio in 2026.

The first Amazon Fresh store was opened in Ealing, London, in 2021, launching the concept of till-free retail whereby shoppers were charged via an app — but the idea failed to gain sufficient popularity whilst demand for online groceries and household essentials continued to grow substantially.

Amazon’s 2017 purchase of Whole Foods Market makes expanding the health foods retailer’s London store count to 12 a logical next move, particularly with Amazon’s customers reporting that they ‘love shopping the Whole Foods Market physical store experience’.

"Since 2008, we've worked hard to innovate to help our customers save time and money when shopping for groceries and household essentials," says John Boumphrey, country manager, Amazon UK. "We continue to invent and invest to bring more choice and convenience to UK customers, enabling them to shop for a wide range of everyday essentials and groceries with low prices and fast delivery through Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market stores, alongside our third-party grocery partners, including Morrisons, Co-op, Iceland and Gopuff.”

In case of closure of Amazon Fresh sites, the company’s goal is to ‘offer redeployment opportunities to as many affected employees as possible’.

“We're deeply invested in the UK's economic growth and creating opportunities for both customers and employees,” adds Boumphrey. “We’ll be working hard to support any potentially impacted teams throughout these planned changes and are deeply grateful for their dedication. If the proposal moves forward, we’ll support our employees by offering alternative employment opportunities within Amazon wherever possible.”

By Rosie Greenaway, editor