Amazon Abandons Planned Fresh Store on Long Island

Two years after construction on the grocery store wrapped, Amazon decided to abandon its planned supermarket in the Long Island hamlet of Farmingville, frustrating the landlord.

The tech giant canceled plans for an Amazon Fresh store at 3017 North Ocean Avenue, Newsday reported. The town supervisor and the landlord, North Block Ventures, learned last week Amazon would not be moving forward with the location.

The 35,000-square-foot location was built out for the planned grocery store by spring 2023, constructed on a vacant lot. All of the exterior design hallmarks of an Amazon Fresh store still adorn the outside of the building.

But before the Amazon Fresh store could open, the company paused the openings of stores across the country to revamp its design, expand its selection of items and reduce prices. It also dropped its patented “Just Walk Out” technology in favor of “Dash Carts,” which consumers can use to track running costs while shopping.

There are 62 Amazon Fresh stores in the country, including three on Long Island. About a third of the locations in the nation have opened in the past 10 months, but the Farmingville location seems to have been left behind.

Amazon declined to comment to Newsday.

North Block Ventures’ Art Garritano declined to comment about Amazon Fresh — Amazon often uses nondisclosure agreements in its real estate dealings — but said it was “rather annoying” when a landlord spends time and money to outfit a property for a tenant, only for them to turn around and jump ship.

The landlord is expected to search for other potential tenants to take over.

Amazon’s struggles in the brick-and-mortar retail sector have been widespread across different efforts to entice the American shopper. The portfolio of Amazon Go convenience stores is shrinking, while recent years have also brought the demise of the company’s storefront bookshops, pop-ups, and toy and home-goods shops.

— Holden Walter-Warner