The San Francisco Chronicle reports that while Amazon has announced plans to open an Amazon Books store in Walnut Creek, in the San Francisco Bay area, it also has "experienced a significant setback: Plans for an Amazon grocery store in San Carlos have been abandoned, according to the site’s property owner."
At the same time, while "an Amazon grocery store project in Sunnyvale won approval last fall," there are few signs that it is "moving forward. Both the Sunnyvale and San Carlos stores would have allowed shoppers to order online and then pick up groceries in person."
At the same time, while "an Amazon grocery store project in Sunnyvale won approval last fall," there are few signs that it is "moving forward. Both the Sunnyvale and San Carlos stores would have allowed shoppers to order online and then pick up groceries in person."
- KC's View:
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The story suggests that part of the problem for Amazon has been on the planning and zoning side; as the company becomes bigger and more ubiquitous, it also tends to attract the same sort of resistance from neighborhoods and consumer groups that traditionally have put up a fight against companies like Walmart.
This strikes me as being fair. Though I might argue with the characterization of this as a "significant setback." There are a lot of ways for Amazon to come to market, and it has a lot of different initiatives in the hopper. Sometimes, as my mother used to say, "Patience is a virtue."
