January 27, 2026
From Just Walk Out to Just Walk Away
Amazon Closing Fresh and Go Stores
Robot checkout dream dies; commenters yell “creepy” and “it was humans”
TLDR: Amazon is shutting its Fresh and Go stores, shifting some to Whole Foods and cutting jobs. Comments explode: some say “Just Walk Out” was people behind cameras, others blame creepy surveillance vibes—while a new big-box plan has folks joking that Amazon’s retail strategy has whiplash.
Amazon is pulling the plug on its Amazon Fresh groceries and Amazon Go “grab-and-go” markets, with some sites becoming Whole Foods. The company admits it never nailed a unique in-store experience or the right money math, and thousands of workers are affected. Cue the comment section, where the vibes are savage: one camp insists the “Just Walk Out” system was more hype than hardware, pointing to reports that it relied on people watching cameras instead of real artificial intelligence. Others say the tech might work someday—but shoppers felt watched and weird. One joker nailed the mood: “Did the humans pretending to be the AI unionize?”
There’s a split: is this a tech failure or a people problem? HardCodedBias argues the whole premise collapsed when “grab-and-go” proved too hard at scale. willio58 counters that AI is close to perfect, but the “creepy surveillance” feeling killed it. Meanwhile, drama spikes as Amazon reportedly moves forward with a big-box store plan, prompting whiplash memes about strategy U-turns and retail roulette. Link
Analysts say the stores just weren’t making enough money, but the community is louder: it wasn’t futuristic—it was people in a back room, and it felt like being watched. The internet verdict: cool idea, awkward execution, and now, aisle closed.
Key Points
- •Amazon will close all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, converting some locations to Whole Foods Market.
- •Amazon cited a lack of a distinctive customer experience and an economic model suitable for large-scale expansion.
- •The company will continue investing in grocery operations online and offline, including stocking perishables in same-day delivery warehouses and expanding offerings at Whole Foods.
- •Amazon operates 14 Go stores and 58 Fresh stores; most will close by Sunday, with California stores remaining open longer due to state notice requirements.
- •Closures will result in job losses for thousands of hourly workers and dozens of corporate staff, with efforts to place affected employees in other Amazon roles.