Amazon is shutting down its Amazon 4-star initiative, closing both Triangle sites
Amazon is closing all of its Amazon 4-star locations nationwide, including two in the Triangle.
The international internet retailer announced Wednesday it would close more than 50 of its physical stores, including two dozen bookstores and more than 30 Amazon 4-Stars, as first reported by The New York Times.
The company confirmed to CNBC that all its Amazon 4-star locations across the country would shut down.
The Triangle hosts two Amazon 4-stars: one in Crabtree Valley Mall that opened in 2020 and another at The Streets at Southpoint in Durham that had yet to open its doors.
Representatives from Crabtree and Southpoint did not immediately respond to The News & Observer’s request for details.
Amazon has not released a timeline for its closures.
The company will “focus more on our Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go and Amazon Style stores and our Just Walk Out technology,” Betsy Harden, an Amazon spokeswoman, said in a statement. “We remain committed to building great, long-term physical retail experiences and technologies, and we’re working closely with our affected employees to help them find new roles within Amazon.”
The decision follows several years of declining revenue from its in-person stores, according to company filings compiled by the Times. In 2018, the first full year after Amazon bought Whole Foods, the company reported $17.2 billion in sales from brick-and-mortar locations. That figure fell below $17.1 billion in 2021.
