Amazon to close 6 stores after unexpected first-quarter loss

Amazon will close six of its Whole Foods Market store locations across the country after last week reporting its first quarterly loss in years.

The closures in Alabama, California, Massachusetts and Illinois will impact just six stores of more than 500 locations, multiple reports said. 

“As we continue to position Whole Foods Market for long-term success, we regularly evaluate the performance and growth potential of each of our stores, and we have made the difficult decision to close six stores,” a Whole Foods spokeswoman said, according to Bloomberg. 

“We are supporting impacted Team Members through this transition and expect that all interested, eligible Team Members will find positions at our other locations,” the spokesperson added. 

Five stores will close on Friday and the other location, which is in Chicago, will close at an unspecified date.

Two of the six closures are in Chicago, which Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) said was “obviously disappointing.” 

“My immediate worry is for the workers in both locations. Amazon must now take clear steps to protect those workers as they transition to new opportunities,” Lightfoot said in a statement.

“We as a city will continue to work hard to close food deserts that meet community needs with community at the table,” she added.

In 2017, Amazon purchased Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Chicago’s location in the lower-income Englewood neighborhood, which is one of the closures, had opened in 2016 as Whole Foods pushed to have a presence in lower-income neighborhoods in cities like Detroit, New Orleans and Newark, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The recent closures come after Amazon reported its first quarterly loss since 2015 on Thursday. The loss totaled $3.8 billion, or $7.56 a share, for the first quarter, the company said.

The Hill has reached out to Amazon for comment.