Amazon is planning to open a grocery store chain separate from Whole Foods

Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace is planning to launch a new chain of retail stores in the major cities of the US. The Wall Street Journal reports that these stores are different from the company’s existing Whole Foods chain. The goal is to focus on the traditional grocery market which is dominated by companies like Walmart, Albertson’s, Kroger etc.In order to expand its grocery footprint, Amazon would reportedly use acquisitions of smaller grocery chains. However, not much has been informed by the company. So it isn’t clear whether the new stores would have Amazon’s name or a new name as a subsidiary brand.

As per the WSJ reports, the retail giant already has signed leases for locations in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle. Amazon already has its Whole Foods and Amazon Go stores in these cities. However, the new chain of stores would sell items that customers cannot find at Whole Foods. These items would basically be upper-scale and organic-focused options with higher prices that would make it less competitive with other mainstream grocery chains.

Right now, it isn’t clear whether this new grocery brand would also use Amazon Go stores’ cashier-less tech. However, Amazon plans to invest mainly in customer service and pick-up facilities to compete with other retail behemoths like Walmart.