Amazon Fresh supermarket slated for Long Island canceled nearly 2 years after construction
Amazon has canceled plans to open an Amazon Fresh grocery store at this site on North Ocean Avenue in Farmingville. Credit: Tom Lambui
The opening of the Amazon Fresh supermarket planned for Farmingville has been canceled nearly two years after the building's construction was completed.
Amazon officials "actually reached out to me to talk to me about the Farmingville location and indicated that, in fact, it is not going forward," said Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico, adding that the conversation took place Jan. 29.
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.
After pausing the opening of new Amazon Fresh grocery stores in early 2023 to revamp the format, which allows customers to pay digitally without going through traditional checkout lanes, Amazon resumed opening stores last summer.
In October, two Amazon Fresh stores opened on Long Island — in East Setauket and Plainview — at least a year and a half after renovation work had been done on the shopping center spaces. But the Farmingville building remained empty after its construction on vacant land was completed in spring 2023.
Owned by developer North Block Ventures LLC in Islandia, the 35,053-square-foot Farmingville building at 3017 North Ocean Ave. bears Amazon Fresh’s signature look outside — gray and light green paint and clusters of large windows.
Amazon routinely puts nondisclosure agreements in place with the landlords of properties where it plans to open stores.
Art Garritano, a member of North Block Ventures, declined to comment specifically about Amazon Fresh, but said he was told about a week ago by "the tenant for that space" that it would not be moving into the Farmingville building.
The news was disappointing, he said.
"It’s not perfect when you spend that many years and do all that work and spend all that time and money and the tenant just decides against it. It’s rather annoying," said Garritano, who declined to disclose the cost of the project.
North Block Ventures will begin marketing the property to other potential tenants, he said.
"It’s a great location with over 80,000 cars a day ... passing the intersection of North Ocean Avenue and Horseblock Road," he said.
Of the 62 Amazon Fresh stores in eight states, 21 have opened since June.
The only Amazon Fresh supermarkets in New York State are the three on Long Island, including one that opened in Oceanside in 2022.
The first Amazon Fresh store opened in Woodland Hills, California, in 2020.
Disappointed with the grocery chain's performance, Amazon announced a pause on opening new stores in February 2023, when there were 44 Amazon Fresh stores in eight states and Washington, D.C.
That pause led to lawsuits by retail landlords in several cities that accused the e-commerce company of breaching contracts by delaying Amazon Fresh openings or pulling out of leases completely.
One lawsuit was filed by a Long Island real estate company, Salisbury Partners LLC in Lake Success, which sued Amazon in March 2023 alleging a breach of contract over a lease signed in April 2022 to open an Amazon Fresh in East Meadow.
Amazon says it had the right to terminate the lease because it never approved the initial landlord’s plans, according to a court filing.
That case is ongoing.
In August 2023, Amazon rolled out changes to the Amazon Fresh format that included an expanded grocery selection and lower prices on more items.
Also, three smaller Amazon Fresh stores were closed in Seattle; Washington, D.C.; and Arlington, Virginia, in April.
The same month, Amazon announced that Amazon Fresh would no longer use Just Walk Out technology, which tracked what consumers put in their shopping carts without the need to scan items’ bar codes and allowed shoppers to pay digitally without going through checkout lanes.
Now, Amazon Fresh stores use Dash Carts, which are "smart" shopping carts with screens that show running cost totals. Customers scan the barcodes of products using cameras on the carts, and then exit the stores through Dash Cart lanes that charge them using the payment method linked to their accounts.
Amazon Fresh stores also have traditional checkout and self-checkout lanes.
The opening of the Amazon Fresh supermarket planned for Farmingville has been canceled nearly two years after the building's construction was completed.
Amazon officials "actually reached out to me to talk to me about the Farmingville location and indicated that, in fact, it is not going forward," said Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico, adding that the conversation took place Jan. 29.
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.
After pausing the opening of new Amazon Fresh grocery stores in early 2023 to revamp the format, which allows customers to pay digitally without going through traditional checkout lanes, Amazon resumed opening stores last summer.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Amazon has canceled plans to open an Amazon Fresh supermarket in Farmingville.
- The building in Farmingville has remained empty after its construction on vacant land was completed in spring 2023.
- The only Amazon Fresh stores on Long Island are in Oceanside, East Setauket and Plainview.
In October, two Amazon Fresh stores opened on Long Island — in East Setauket and Plainview — at least a year and a half after renovation work had been done on the shopping center spaces. But the Farmingville building remained empty after its construction on vacant land was completed in spring 2023.
Owned by developer North Block Ventures LLC in Islandia, the 35,053-square-foot Farmingville building at 3017 North Ocean Ave. bears Amazon Fresh’s signature look outside — gray and light green paint and clusters of large windows.
Amazon routinely puts nondisclosure agreements in place with the landlords of properties where it plans to open stores.
Art Garritano, a member of North Block Ventures, declined to comment specifically about Amazon Fresh, but said he was told about a week ago by "the tenant for that space" that it would not be moving into the Farmingville building.
The news was disappointing, he said.
"It’s not perfect when you spend that many years and do all that work and spend all that time and money and the tenant just decides against it. It’s rather annoying," said Garritano, who declined to disclose the cost of the project.
North Block Ventures will begin marketing the property to other potential tenants, he said.
"It’s a great location with over 80,000 cars a day ... passing the intersection of North Ocean Avenue and Horseblock Road," he said.
Of the 62 Amazon Fresh stores in eight states, 21 have opened since June.
The only Amazon Fresh supermarkets in New York State are the three on Long Island, including one that opened in Oceanside in 2022.
Pause leads to lawsuits
The first Amazon Fresh store opened in Woodland Hills, California, in 2020.
Disappointed with the grocery chain's performance, Amazon announced a pause on opening new stores in February 2023, when there were 44 Amazon Fresh stores in eight states and Washington, D.C.
That pause led to lawsuits by retail landlords in several cities that accused the e-commerce company of breaching contracts by delaying Amazon Fresh openings or pulling out of leases completely.
One lawsuit was filed by a Long Island real estate company, Salisbury Partners LLC in Lake Success, which sued Amazon in March 2023 alleging a breach of contract over a lease signed in April 2022 to open an Amazon Fresh in East Meadow.
Amazon says it had the right to terminate the lease because it never approved the initial landlord’s plans, according to a court filing.
That case is ongoing.
Changing the format
In August 2023, Amazon rolled out changes to the Amazon Fresh format that included an expanded grocery selection and lower prices on more items.
Also, three smaller Amazon Fresh stores were closed in Seattle; Washington, D.C.; and Arlington, Virginia, in April.
The same month, Amazon announced that Amazon Fresh would no longer use Just Walk Out technology, which tracked what consumers put in their shopping carts without the need to scan items’ bar codes and allowed shoppers to pay digitally without going through checkout lanes.
Now, Amazon Fresh stores use Dash Carts, which are "smart" shopping carts with screens that show running cost totals. Customers scan the barcodes of products using cameras on the carts, and then exit the stores through Dash Cart lanes that charge them using the payment method linked to their accounts.
Amazon Fresh stores also have traditional checkout and self-checkout lanes.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
'I have never been to New York' Jim Vennard, 61, an electrical engineer from Missouri, received a $250 ticket for passing a stopped school bus in Stony Brook, a place he said he has never visited. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
'I have never been to New York' Jim Vennard, 61, an electrical engineer from Missouri, received a $250 ticket for passing a stopped school bus in Stony Brook, a place he said he has never visited. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
