Whole Foods open first permanent dark store

During the surge of pandemic shopping Whole Foods Market BB #:147784 opened six locations as “dark stores,” using them to fulfill online-only orders.

Four have since turned on the lights and opened to the public, but the Amazon-owned retailer has now opened a new permanent dark store location in Brooklyn, NY.

The new Industry City store opened September 1, though Amazon said in a blog post the planning for the new format began more than a year ago.

“This store will be fully staffed by Whole Foods Market team members who are 100 percent dedicated to facilitating grocery delivery – enabling them to quickly receive, shop, and prepare orders for delivery to more customers than ever before,” the company said.

Grocery delivery is one of the fastest-growing businesses for Amazon.

“In fact, online grocery sales tripled year over year in the second quarter this year, indicating that more customers than ever before are turning to Amazon for grocery delivery options.”