Amazon closing all U.K. Amazon Fresh stores; converting five to Whole Foods
Amazon continues to fine-tune its grocery strategy.
The company is looking to close all 19 of its Amazon Fresh grocery stores in the U.K., with five of the locations to be converted to its Whole Foods Market store format. Amazon announced the news in a blog post, saying it has launched “a consultation with employees” for the proposed closure of all Amazon Fresh locations in the United Kingdom, following "a thorough evaluation of business operations and the very substantial growth opportunities in online delivery." (U.K. laws require consultation periods in cases of large layoffs.)
"As part of the Fresh Stores closure proposal, in addition to expanding online grocery services, we’re also proposing to convert five Amazon Fresh locations to Whole Foods Market," Amazon stated.
Amazon opened its first U.K. Amazon Fresh location, which also marked its first physical store outside of the U.S, in the Ealing section of London in 2021. The checkout-free convenience/grocery store format features a variety of high-tech omnichannel features designed to merge online grocery shopping with an elevated in-store experience.
These include fast grocery delivery and pickup options, as well as Amazon’s "Just Walk Out" technology that eliminates the need for human cashiers, or cash payments. Cameras equipped with computer vision and facial recognition technology, as well as automatic sensors, keep track of items customers take from shelves. When a shopper is ready to check out, they automatically pay with a registered credit or debit card inside the Amazon Go mobile app.
In March 2025, Amazon opened a new Whole Foods Market store on King’s Road in the Chelsea neighborhood of London. It was the first new U.K. location for Whole Foods since 2014. With the proposed addition of these five stores, the opening the store in Chelsea earlier this year, and an additional store planned to open in Greater London by the end of 2026, Amazon would have 12 Whole Foods stores in the U.K.
[READ MORE: Whole Foods Market opening new U.K. store]
Expanded U.K. grocery delivery options
As part of its proposal, Amazon would also enhance the online delivery services it offers UK. consumers. The retailer says it currently offers more than 2 million grocery and household essential products from its main U.K. Amazon website, as well as Amazon Fresh online, Whole Foods Market, and online delivery partnerships with supermarket chain Morrisons, Co-op-and Iceland, and online delivery platform Gopuff.
By early 2026, Amazon plans to more than double the number of Amazon U.K. Prime members who have access to three or more online grocery delivery options through its partners. With the expansion, more than 80% of U.K. Prime members would be able to shop at least one of its four grocery partners.
In addition, in 2026 Amazon plans to add perishable groceries to millions of other products available on Amazon.co.uk with same-day delivery. The retailer recently launched this service in more than 1,000 cities and towns in the U.S.
The company says growth in the grocery category is outpacing the rest of its U.K. business, with hundreds of millions of everyday essentials delivered the same or next day there in 2024 — an increase of nearly 20% year-over-year.
In addition, in the first quarter of 2025, Amazon's everyday essentials category — which includes groceries and household items, grew nearly twice as fast as all other categories in the U.K. and now represents nearly one out of every three units sold on Amazon.co.uk.
"Since 2008, we've worked hard to innovate to help our customers save time and money when shopping for groceries and household essentials," said John Boumphrey, country manager, Amazon U.K. "We continue to invent and invest to bring more choice and convenience to UK customers, enabling them to shop for a wide range of everyday essentials and groceries with low prices and fast delivery through Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market stores, alongside our third-party grocery partners, including Morrisons, Co-op and Iceland, and Gopuff.”
Amazon said it will offer redeployment opportunities to as many affected employees as possible and that more news about its U.K. grocery offering will be available in the coming year.
