Amazon’s PR for its new Factoria store (Image: Amazon Fresh)
In January, Seattle retail giant Amazon announced two new era grocery stores: one in Bellevue’s Factoria neighborhood and one in the heart of Seattle’s Central District at 23rd and Jackson. Last week, the company proudly showed off its first Amazon Fresh full-sized grocery to use it checkout-less “Just Walk Out technology” as it cut the ribbon on the Factoria store.
When will the 25,000-square-foot South Jackson Amazon Fresh open? The company isn’t saying. Continue reading →
Company officials have confirmed to CHS the Central District store in the new mixed-use development at 23rd and Jackson will be part of the company’s first Amazon Fresh groceries to open in its home state of Washington.
We are proud to be bringing hundreds of good jobs with benefits to the Seattle area as we prepare to open the first Amazon Fresh grocery stores in our home state of Washington,” Roetta Greene Elton, district manager of Amazon Fresh grocery stores, said in a company statement on the openings. “We’re excited to provide customers with new, low-priced grocery stores in their neighborhoods and look forward to contributing positively to the community.”
Amazon’s big message about the big new store that has risen where the neighborhood’s Red Apple grocery used to stand focused on one important component: jobs. Continue reading →
Bubbling to the surface years before this week’s opening, the first clues CHS discovered that retail giant Amazon was planning a new grocery store on Capitol Hill were small: city paperwork with project manager names and shell companies.
In the days leading up to the debut of E Pike’s Amazon Go Grocery, CHS started looking into a similar new set of bubbles that has started in the area — 23rd and Jackson in the Central District.
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There, where the neighborhood’s Red Apple was demolished in early 2018 to make way, construction continues to create the Jackson Apartments, two seven-story buildings from developer Vulcan Real Estate with a combined 532 apartments, a whopping 44,000 square feet of commercial space, a massive amount of underground parking with room for more than 500 vehicles, and, yes, a 25,000-square-foot grocery store. Continue reading →
The corner of Madison and Minor is again home to a neighborhood outlet from a massive global corporation that has sparked environmental, socioeconomic, and, yes, even health concerns but is also just a place to grab a quick sandwich and be on your way.
Outfitted with cameras, scanners, and waves of radio-frequency identification, the newest Amazon Goin the world is now open on First Hill in the 1001 Minor Ave “luxury” apartment building, The Perry. Thanks to our man on First Hill @gordonwerner for the update. Continue reading →
A flurry of updated permitting and construction crews at work in the space indicate the Amazon-linked grocery project on E Pike is gearing up for a 2019 opening.
CHS has been reporting on the large, 10,000-square-foot retail space since 2015 when we first dug up permits indicating a large retail project was afoot much to the chagrin of local development watchers and neighborhood property owners who had hoped developer Avalon Communities would stick to its commitment to break the space up across multiple retailers. Continue reading →
Born in 2000 on 15th Ave E, Victrola has survived neighboring competitive corporate mimicry — remember 15th Ave Coffee & Tea? — and downright overwhelming investment on a global scale. This week, the small chain of cafes has expanded into new Seattle territory directly in the maw of massive brands downtown at 3rd and Pine — and it has made some surprising alliances along the way.
Wednesday, Victrola opened its new cafe inside the Macy’s building, well off Capitol Hill.
Victrola’s Andrew Wheeler tells CHS one of the 15th Ave cafe’s earliest customers called that shop “the living room of the neighborhood.” It’s an ideal Victrola hopes to carry downtown. Continue reading →
With Seattle homelessness advocates continuing to debate short-term and immediate services vs. more permanent housing, the city’s Human Services Department has earmarked $1 million in bridge funding to providers of emergency shelter, hygiene services in the city.
Meanwhile, District 3 representative Kshama Sawant will hold a Tax Amazon Town HallTuesday night at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute to raise support for the proposed $75-million Seattle “employment tax” on businesses that is hoped will fund housing and homelessness services in Seattle.
The $1 million in “augmented” funding for Compass, LIHI – Urban Rest Stop, SHARE/WHEEL shelters, and the Seattle Indian Center comes from the city council’s decision to sell a $11 million South Lake Union property and use the proceeds, in part, to address the city’s homelessness and affordability crisis. Continue reading →
Only a mile from the crowd around the self check-out kiosks at the Harvard Market QFC, a new shopping experience — probably worked on by a few Capitol Hill residents who have stood in that crowd — will be unveiled early next year on 7th Ave.
Amazon Go will be a “self driving” grocery store in Seattle’s burgeoning new Amazonia neighborhood where shoppers can walk in and walk out with anything they like — without having to wait to ring up their purchases.
“What if we could weave the most advanced machine learning, computer vision and AI into the very fabric of a store, so you never have to wait in line,” the promo video released Monday morning asks. “No lines, no checkout, no registers — welcome to Amazon Go.”
The company’s secret grocery project comes as the retail giant has laid claim to around a third of the country’s online holiday spending this year and many industry watchers have been predicting advances with delivery technology like drones. The company is also planning drive-up grocery stores with a prototype nearly ready to open in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.
While the planned Amazon Go debut in 2017 at 2131 7th Ave has garnered a lot of buzz, we’ll be more impressed when the retailer shows its new system can work on Broadway where many grocery shoppers have been employing a version of “just walk out technology” for years.
“Take whatever you like. Anything you pick up is automatically added to your virtual card. If you change your mind about that, Cupcake, just put it back…”
