Maryland Amazon Fresh locations are in the final stages of shutting down, and the past several days have looked more like a liquidation sale than a typical grocery run.
Amazon Fresh stores across Maryland have been offering steep discounts as the company prepares to close most Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go grocery stores nationwide. Shoppers have reported markdowns ranging from 50 percent to as much as 80 percent off, prompting heavy foot traffic and long lines at several locations.
The Amazon Fresh store in Gaithersburg became a focal point of the rush. After days of massive discounts, the store closed on Saturday night shortly after 7pm, due to running out of inventory. In the days leading up to the closure, lines stretched out the door as shoppers filled carts with heavily discounted groceries, household items, and frozen foods.
All Amazon Fresh locations in Montgomery County are part of the closures. That includes two stores in Chevy Chase, one in Gaithersburg, and one in White Oak. Most remaining locations are expected to close by Sunday, February 1, though some stores have shut down earlier depending on inventory levels. California locations are excluded from this closure timeline.
Nationwide, Amazon operates 72 Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations. The company has said it is shifting its grocery strategy toward Whole Foods Market and grocery delivery through Amazon.com, stepping away from the standalone Amazon Fresh and Go store formats.
Amazon has also indicated that a limited number of Amazon Fresh locations could eventually reopen as new Whole Foods Market stores. At this time, it is not known whether any of the Montgomery County sites are included in those future plans.
