Amazon Denies Claims of Opening 2,000 New Stores

Less than a week after The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon.com plans to open "more than 2,000 brick-and-mortar grocery stores under its name," a company spokesperson denied the claim. "It's absolutely not correct," Amazon spokeswoman Pia Arthur said in an emailed statement to CNET Magazine. "We have no plans to open 2,000 of anything. Not even close. We are still learning." The e-commerce giant also denied the report that it's opening a 40,000-square-foot store that would rival grocery chain Aldi.

Total Retail’s Take: Amazon’s statements should calm brick-and-mortar retailers’ nerves — at least somewhat. Amazon is constantly innovating with new concepts, forcing retailers to do the same. The statements also should make retail workers feel more secure. Retail workers claimed that the new automated convenience store model, Amazon Go, has the potential to put thousands of workers out of their jobs.