Amazon Fresh
Opened: November 7, 2024
Amazon Fresh continues to flounder in its quest for supermarket domination. They're closing their entire UK operation (although a handful of stores will continue on as Whole Foods locations) while closing four stores in California and one in New York, under a year after it opened. With that context in mind, I thought it would be interesting to revisit the Woodland Park store (see here also) to check in on how their operations are doing at the remaining stores.
The answer: badly. This store is large, larger than most Amazon Fresh locations, and it's clear Amazon is struggling enormously to fill the sales floor. Something I can't say I've seen before: these posters in the produce department, covering up parts of the refrigeration that aren't full. And there are a lot of them...
As you can see, they're barely even filling the space around the posters. When I visited most recently, the produce seemed to be on the older side, probably suggesting turnover is quite low here.
The store felt messy, and these posters seem to be barely a step above pushing some cardboard displays of chips in front of an empty display case.
And for a store of over 60,000 square feet, the selection is quite small. This is the entirety of the (loose) apple selection here, for example. The tag all the way on the right advertises organic honeycrisp apples, which obviously aren't what's there. And check out the sad selection of bartlett pears. Between all that and the storage crates under the shelves that were kind of wandering out from under it, this is no match for the much better ShopRite across the highway.
This barely-stocked beverage case also clearly used to have more than just soda. Charcuterie is long gone from here.
And the grocery aisles aren't much better. This isn't some little independent, this is Amazon. Why are they consistently unable to keep their stores stocked?
Hope you didn't want prepared foods, either. That paper sign taped to the counter says that "new sushi options" are coming soon -- probably something that's not made in store.
These posters quoting a review for the Oceanside location appear in several places around the store, and it's particularly sad to see the review claiming the store is well stocked next to obvious empty spaces on the shelves.
Here's an entire freezer island that's completely empty on the back wall...
...and paper products aren't exactly bounty-ful.
What was once a well-stocked and well-merchandised private label brand display in the last aisle is now just a sad scattering of random products.
A very random selection of nonfoods is up at the front, too, and these poorly-organized shelves make the whole store feel junky. This looks more like a grocery outlet clearance area than a mainstream supermarket.
Once again, I hate to disagree with this anonymous Oceanside customer but I wouldn't exactly call out these well-stocked shelves. While there aren't any more closures that Amazon has announced just yet, this store certainly feels like it's already on its last legs.
Opened: November 7, 2024
Owner: Amazon
Previous Tenants: Pathmark > Fairway Market
Cooperative: none
Location: 1510 US-46, Woodland Park, NJ
Photographed: September 18, 2025
Of course, we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, see this weekend's other posts here!
I have the feeling this place will just go dark one day. No closing announcement. Probably won't happen that way but my gut says it will. They've essentially given up on the whole operation. The only signs of life I ever see here are pick-up orders but what are people ordering if the shelves are that poorly stocked? There is not a single thing this store offers that would have someone passing over the Little Falls ShopRite across the street, one of the best run ShopRites I have ever stepped foot in. (And a dream location for supermarket fans as the store is cobbled together from three entirely different structures)
ReplyDeleteI've even seen people complaining on social media that their Amazon Fresh orders are being fulfilled by the stores rather than the warehouses now, and that out-of-stocks are out of control. Not a good plan -- and just mind-bogglingly poor execution for Amazon, of all companies.
DeleteThe paper aisle might have been mistaken for a photo from somewhere in 2020, about 1 minute after they put the few things they got for the day on the shelves.
ReplyDeleteThere's way too much still out for one minute after they put the items on the shelves. How about 20 seconds, with a line of people ready to grab it?
DeleteI remember after weeks of nothing, getting commercial toilet paper rolls for 99 cents each at the Caldwell, NJ Foodtown. Terrible toilet paper but hey, it got the job done!
OK, 20 seconds. A minute only if it was a small NYC based store, since they start with more stocked ;)
DeletePerhaps you went to the wrong store in town - maybe the ShopRite would have had Japanese toilet paper (since, after all, stores did get some unusual brands during that time) ;)