CLEARWATER, Fla. — Florida's first Amazon Fresh store could be coming soon to northern Pinellas County — at least it looks like it.
The site is located at the corner of Enterprise and McMullen Booth roads in Safety Harbor in what used to be a Winn-Dixie that closed in 2021. The 35,000-square-foot storefront has been vacant since, but more development has been seen outside the building, including a fresh coat of paint and other green features.
The look is similar to a design used by other existing Amazon Fresh stores elsewhere in the United States. 10 Tampa Bay reached out to Amazon for confirmation of the store and in response, the company said, in part: "We don’t comment on our future roadmap."
If an Amazon Fresh is opened in the area, it will not only be the first store in the Tampa Bay area but the first in Florida.
You might already be familiar with the online application of Amazon Fresh — a service that allows Prime members to order same-day groceries right to their home, including fresh produce and meats, or shop in-store with an option to pay through the physical cart and not a traditional checkout. Since 2020, Amazon says it has opened about 44 brick-and-mortar Amazon Fresh stores in states including California, Illinois, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Maryland and Washington D.C.
However, plans for additional Amazon Fresh locations, including here in Florida, may have recently been put on the back burner, according to a report from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The Sentinel explains Amazon stopped opening new Fresh-branded grocery stores in September 2022 due, in part, to sluggish sales within the company. Then, in January, more than 18,000 Amazon employees were laid off, including some Amazon Fresh staff.
"While new South Florida stores were never officially announced by Amazon, telltale design elements at the locations in Boca Raton and Plantation fueled speculation that they would house Amazon Fresh stores," the Sentinel said in its July report.
The Amazon Fresh grocery stores are not Whole Foods and operate independently, according to Amazon. Within these stores, shoppers are reportedly able to have a "seamless" grocery shopping experience.
Shoppers have access to national brands and Amazon-owned ones offering "high-quality produce, meat and seafood." Amazon says their stores also have a "culinary team" offering a "range of delicious prepared foods made fresh in-store every day."