Report: Amazon considering opening members-only convenience stores

Watch out, 7-Eleven and other c-store retailers. Amazon is thinking about entering your turf.



Having opened bookstores and with a planned entry into the drive-up grocery store space under construction in Seattle, the Internet giant is now considering opening convenience stores, the Wall Street Journal reported.



“Amazon will increasingly threaten big box brick-and-mortar but until now, the immediate need — produce, deli, dairy, Tylenol for a headache, Robitussin for a cough — were out of reach,” Danny Silverman, senior VP of customer success for Clavis Insight, told Chain Store Age. “The move into brick-and-mortar demonstrates Amazon's commitment to dominate every type of trip mission and shopper need.”



Amazon’s c-stores, with an internal code name of “Project Como,” will be available only to AmazonFresh subscribers, according to the WSJ. (The online grocery service, which is available only to Prime members, just slashed its fee from $299 to $14.99 per month.)



The WSJ report says that Amazon “aims to build small brick-and-mortar stores that would sell produce, milk, meats and other perishable items that customers can take home.” Primarily using their mobile phones or, possibly, touch screens around the store, customers could also order peanut butter, cereal and other goods with longer shelf lives for same-day delivery.”