Amazon Fresh
Opening: TBA
Another new Amazon Fresh is on its way! The growing-yet-struggling chain is pushing forward with certain planned locations and it seems the former Foodtown in Cedar Knolls will be up next. Amazon has remodeled the building and expanded it to around 45,000 square feet, and you can see the facade is a bit different from the previous generation of stores. There remain a number of Amazon Fresh stores fully built, but not yet opened, across the country, while others have been sold or canceled. Amazon Fresh's strategy -- if they have one -- has yet to reveal itself to the public, and meanwhile, their execution is confusing and haphazard.
Owner: Amazon
Previous Tenants: Stop & Shop > Foodtown
Cooperative: none
Location: 225 Ridgedale Ave, Cedar Knolls, NJ
Photographed: January 21 and 31, 2025
So we'll see, because bigger transformations have happened before. It's entirely possible that, with a recent management change, Amazon Fresh can establish itself as a serious contender. But so far, the stores seem to be fairly poorly-received and low-traffic. For example, the Paramus location -- the first in New Jersey -- gets less than half of the traffic that the smaller Fresh Grocer nearby gets, per Placer.ai. For now, check out the other posts for today and tomorrow!
I'd be surprised if this place opens. They're pulling the plug again on some new locations. I think they're done. No way to recover at this point. I drive by the Little Falls location a couple times a week. There are always so few cars in the parking lot, it looks like the place is completely closed. Meanwhile the ShopRite across the highways is always packed. I don't think they stand a chance at this point.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you, but one theory currently making the rounds online is that there are certain leases they signed years ago (like this one) that they're not able to get out of, which they've done in some locations, and where there's no other party interested in taking over (like the stores that went to Big Y or ALDI). So to fulfill the lease obligations, they open the store. But I think you're right that Amazon Fresh as a whole is all but dead. Although, as you may have seen, they've recently combined Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods under the Whole Foods CEO's leadership, which is the only chance it has to survive. I do wonder how long it'll be before more stores close, though.
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