Fast and furious has been Amazon.com Inc.’s M.O. when it comes to testing physical retail formats and new delivery concepts.
Irvine residents and landlords once again will benefit from those trials, the Business Journal has learned.
Irvine Co.’s The Market Place has been confirmed as one of the first sites for the Seattle retailer’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) newest brick-and-mortar concept, a grocery store.
It’s the first reported Orange County location for the store, and second confirmed Southern California location for a concept whose details first began to emerge nationally late last year.
The only other confirmed location is in Woodland Hills; that roughly 35,000-square-foot spot, previously used by a Toys R Us, is expected to open in 2022, according to news reports.
The Market Place location, with an opening date not yet known, will take up about 40,000 square feet in a space vacated last year by Babies R Us, according to brokerage data and sources familiar with the transaction.
Traditional grocery stores can typically run 60,000 square feet or so.
Amazon, through a spokeswoman, declined comment.
Irvine Co. also declined comment for this story.
Liquor License
Details about the merchandising strategy or what technology Amazon might incorporate into its grocery stores are also scant. Amazon has only confirmed its grocery store will be different from Whole Foods Market Inc., which it acquired in 2017 for $13.7 billion.
It would also presumably be unique from the grab-and-go breakfast, lunch and snacks concept it operates, called Amazon Go. Job postings for the future Woodland Hills grocery store shows associate and food service associate pay starting at $15.35 an hour.
A notice posted at The Market Place location indicate alcohol will be sold at the spot, which will be the second large grocer at the massive shopping center that straddles Irvine and Tustin, just off Jamboree Road. There’s also a Sprouts on the Tustin side of the center.
Other Firsts
This isn’t the first time Amazon, which has area offices in the Spectrum area, has used Irvine as a testing ground.
Last year, it picked the city and Snohomish County in Washington to begin trialing autonomous delivery with its Scout robots. University Center, across the street from University of California-Irvine, was also the first in Orange County to get Amazon Hub Locker+, a shipping destination option for the e-tailer’s customers.
Amazon, which had a recent market cap of $919 billion and sales last year of $233 billion, has been on a tear in recent years testing out different store formats, expanding those that are working and quick to shutter ones that aren’t.
A study from the International Council of Shopping Centers supports how physical and digital work together. A brick-and-mortar store can help pump web traffic from the market where a store is opened by 37% on average. Additionally, for every $100 spent online, another $131 is spent in store, ICSC’s Halo Effect study found.
Growing Roster
Amazon’s grocery store will join the company’s current roster of stores that include Amazon Books, Amazon Go, Amazon 4-Star and Amazon Pop Up (see story, this page).
All drive home the point of what shopping center operators already know: diversity in a merchant roster is key.
“These concepts aren’t unique to Amazon,” an ICSC spokeswoman said. “Many retailers are trying new formats and creating new experiences in store to attract consumers …. This really translates to how shopping centers curate their tenant mix. Consumers want variety, especially millennials, so these concepts help drive interest and dwell time.”
