What grocery store is coming to Chevy Chase Lake? has been one of the burning questions as the former site of the Chevy Chase Supermarket is redeveloped. The answer is Amazon, which will anchor the retail of the new Chevy Chase Lake development now under construction along Connecticut Avenue. At 46,274 square feet, this will be the largest Amazon grocery store yet in the region. Two sources tell me it will be branded Amazon Fresh, although the square footage is more typical of Amazon's Whole Foods Market brand.
The Chevy Chase Lake store will be Amazon's first in Montgomery County to have the company's Just Walk Out technology. Amazon Fresh in Friendship Heights offers the Dash Cart checkout system instead of Just Walk Out. Just Walk Out has previously been limited to smaller Amazon Go stores. That is changing, as Amazon opened a Fresh store with the technology in Bellevue, Washington earlier this year, and will offer it at two new Whole Foods stores in 2022.
Amazon joins two other retail tenants to sign on at Chevy Chase Lake. Uncorked Chevy Chase will be a fine wine and craft beer retailer. And at the corner of Manor Road and Chevy Chase Lake Terrace at the development will be a Truist bank branch.
I've found the Amazon Fresh store in Friendship Heights really underwhelming. The pricing wasn't that competitive, selection was limited and the produce didn't look fresh. I don't expect this new location at Chevy Chase Lake to be any different. It should have been a Wegmans. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteBetter than most options. Preferred WF but, have to say, walking out is pretty convenient.
ReplyDeleteI had such high hopes for the one at Chevy Chase Center but it's embarrassingly bad. One of the worst grocery experiences I think I've ever had. If I bought a 2 million condo there, I would be furious if my store, that I could easily walk to, was Amazon Fresh. No, they need to sort that out pronto. It's beyond bad.
ReplyDeleteBiggest issue with Amazon Fresh physical locations is that they are really hubs for the delivery service. They are usually out-of-stock of many items because the delivery folks walk out of there with like 12 bags of groceries each for delivery.
ReplyDeleteThese two AF stores are only 2.7 miles apart. At this rate will we be seeing a plethora of Bezos joints in MoCo?
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad. The old Chevy Chase Supermarket was a wonderful place, with helpful and friendly staff, good prices and a number of brands not found at the big-name places. Oh well, Amazon will be a much better fit for the new development, where style trumps substance at every turn.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update, Robert.
9:21: My guess would be "yes." The company's priority is to use these stores as distribution centers for Amazon delivery, so they logically would want one in as many neighborhoods as possible.
ReplyDeleteAnd soon on shady Grove road by home Depot
DeleteThanks for this. Heard rumors and hoped they weren't true. Your sourcing is top notch so I suppose it's time to be disappointed unless this site is much better than friendship heights.
ReplyDeleteUgh ugh
ReplyDeleteWhole Foods owned by Amazon now all self checkout
They have destroyed one of the best jobs for high school graduates
Grocery workers at Giant are unionized and they can support a family with pay, sick leave and paid days off and a pension
This is disgusting
Also Safeway and Giant have sales where elderly on fixed incomes can stock up on sale items
Amazon is overpriced and prepackaged food
This development is hobbled by the fact that the Purple Line is way late in being finished, ie still 3 years away. I would consider living there in one of the apt buildings but only after the Purple Line is up and running...........
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ReplyDeleteSound like monopoly to me.
Learning
Not precisely the same thing, but sufficiently related to bear mentioning, Google "The Dark Side of 15-Minute Grocery Delivery" for a Bloomberg City Lab article on the cost of convenience.
ReplyDelete@10:33 PM You should have a serious talk with your cohorts that stood in the way of progress for so damn long. They are the ones who prevented you from benefitting from public transits advances.
ReplyDeleteI went to the Amazon Fresh store in Chevy Chase for the first time a few weeks ago. To say I was underwhelmed is an understatement. I was very disappointed in the store and have no desire to return. Still I realize it is still early days so the store has much room for improvement if Amazon makes the effort. No current desire to return. The small Giant in my neighborhood is superior.
ReplyDelete@10:15, it says volumes about the region when Giant is flagged as the high water mark for grocery stores. You aren't wrong, but it is a sad commentary on the DC region's paucity of great, grand groceries.
ReplyDelete@6:02 AM: We need more Wegmans around here.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it will be Amazon Fresh. When you drive by you can see that they painted one of the big walls all orange. Looking at the attached photo you can tell it is the Amazon Customer Service section of the store.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/search?q=amazon+fresh+interior&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjKlo68jeL0AhXbD1kFHbEZC3UQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=amazon+fresh+interior&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQgAQ6BwgjEO8DECc6BAgAEEM6BggAEAgQHjoECAAQGFDsCFiTFmD-GmgAcAB4AIABTogBjwWSAQIxMJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=zO63YcqADduf5NoPsbOsqAc&bih=1221&biw=2269&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS821US821#imgrc=vkb-evzB0MhtNM