Amazon Go stores started in the ground floor of an Amazon office building. The company is trying other retail experiments, like a drive-up grocery store, in Seattle, where executives can watch the experiments up close.
Amazon, like Starbucks, uses its hometown of Seattle to test its physical stores. "The company is putting its stamp on the city by using it as a lab for its expanding array of unconventional experiments in brick-and-mortar retail," reports Nick Wingfield in the New York Times.
The proximity of Seattle's experiments allows for quick feedback for the company, which can use the information to hone ideas before taking them national. Wingfield uses Amazon Fresh (the company's grocery business) as an example of a service that was first only available in Seattle, while the company could worked out some of the kinks in the operation. During its initial experiments with the service, the company was able to identify some of the key brands and items which were must haves for their customers, important insight for a company moving into a new category.
Currently, the company is experimenting with a number of concepts, including a grocery store where shoppers simply drive through to pick up groceries they ordered in advance online, a "treasure truck," which contains an assortment of items that might include fish steaks or videogame consoles, and an Amazon Go store, where customers pay for items in store on their phones.
FULL STORY: Amazon Living Lab: Reimagining Retail on Seattle's Streets
How Amazon Is Expanding Brick and Mortar Presence
Is retail dead? Amazon doesn't think so, and has been slowly growing a fleet of physical stores that look quite a bit different from their traditional retail counterparts.
Ross May Be Immune from the Amazon Effect
Ross Stores continues its expansion in the face of a much-foretold retail apocalypse. The shopping experience it provides may be one reason it can stand up to Amazon.
Amazon to House Homeless in Seattle Headquarters
Headquarters campus of Amazon will include housing for homeless who would have been displaced by the company’s purchase of the hotel that included their shelter.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
Congestion Pricing Drops Holland Tunnel Delays by 65 Percent
New York City’s contentious tolling program has yielded improved traffic and roughly $100 million in revenue for the MTA.
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service