Something strange has been happening in Saugus.
For more than a year since a sign advertising an Amazon Fresh location was erected at the former site of the Big Y on Route 1, the building has sat vacant as questions have swirled about when exactly the store will open. Now, that sign is gone and a cone of silence has enveloped any updates on the store’s progress. Also gone? A display in the store window declaring “see you soon” and promising a 2023 opening.
An Amazon spokesperson offered only a vague statement and declined to provide details about specific location openings, instead saying, “We’ll continue to open new Whole Foods Market stores, and will do so selectively with Amazon Fresh as we see results we like.”
“We’re encouraged by early signs of our new store design in Chicago and Southern California, and will proceed adaptively,” Jessica Martin, the spokesperson, said in an email this week.
The company said it sees building out its physical presence as the next phase of its entry into the grocery business, beyond the online home-delivery service it already offers. Having a physical store presence beyond Whole Foods, which Amazon owns, will require significant investment, Martin said.
But despite the success of Whole Foods, the company remains committed to the Amazon Fresh model, the statement said.
Finard Properties Managing Director Nicole Gibson, the property’s landlord, declined to comment, saying the company was subject to a strict non-disclosure agreement.
Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta said she had not heard any updates on the store, but hopes it will open its doors in the near future.
“It would be beneficial to the residents if they did decide to open to give people more shopping choices,” she said.
Last February, Panetta said technology was the holdup for the store’s opening.
The store, if it ever opens, will feature the company’s “Just Walk Out” technology, enabling customers to skip the checkout line and instead have their Amazon accounts automatically billed.
“This (proprietary) technology knows exactly what it is you are purchasing,” Panetta said at the time. “You can imagine the type of technology needed to be able to differentiate between an orange and a grapefruit, for example.”
