NAPERVILLE, IL - With plans laid out for a quick swoop into the Illinois grocery scene, Amazon has announced that the opening of its first Amazon Fresh brick-and-mortar location in the state will take place this week, December 10, in Naperville.
The Naperville location, which spans 35,000 square feet, according to the Chicago Business Journal, will be the first of four planned openings in Illinois, and the fifth Amazon Fresh store to open nationally.
The company has already implemented some use for the store, along with the others in the state, as temporary dark-style stores, giving it a jump start in the communities before even officially opening.
“We have opened our Naperville, Illinois, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Oak Lawn, Illinois, Amazon Fresh grocery stores as temporary, online-only stores,” Amazon said in an earlier release. “With these stores now open to focus exclusively on grocery delivery orders, we have increased delivery capacity and are able to serve thousands of additional customers in these communities.”
In addition to this, the store said it is supporting the community through the creation of hundreds of high-quality local jobs, with a starting wage of $15 and comprehensive benefits from the first day.
“We’re also supporting the Naperville community by donating surplus food from the Amazon Fresh store to local food banks. We have already donated over 165,000 lbs of food (equivalent to over 135,000 meals) since this location opened as an online-only store," the report stated.
The formerly e-tail only chain debuted its new banner in Southern California earlier this year with plans for further expansion in the area, as well as additional U.S. states. If the pattern follows Amazon’s usual aggressive moves, this new first will not be the last. AndNowUKnow will continue to report as more becomes known.
