The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Amazon is now the second-largest U.S. grocer, President and CEO Andy Jassy told investors Wednesday — but with what stores?
Amazon’s grocery business is comprised of two major entities: Whole Foods Market and its online grocery operations, which added same-day perishables delivery last year. And while that alone may sound meek compared to grocery giants like Walmart, which has thousands of stores, and grocers like Albertsons and Kroger that have dozens of banners, Amazon reported its grocery business saw more than $150 billion in gross sales in 2025.
It’s important to note that even before making the jump into creating a grocery empire, Amazon’s online business sold, and continues to sell, nonperishable grocery items, from cases of water to boxes of oatmeal.
Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go were ultimately not viable brick-and-mortar grocery models for Amazon, yet the company has not given up on its efforts to be a major grocery competitor, even as Whole Foods, its primary brick-and-mortar vehicle, only has about 550 locations. In fact, Amazon has only gotten more vocal about its grocery business.
Jassy took time during the company’s first-quarter earnings call to give a rundown of Amazon’s grocery growth, sharing that perishable sales have grown “over 40x year-over-year,” that customers shopping for same-day perishables build larger baskets and that Whole Foods’ footprint will grow by 100 locations in the next few years.
This is a notable uptick in grocery discussion compared to Amazon’s Q1 earnings call a year ago, when its grocery business got a fleeting mention.
While Amazon clearly wants to promote itself as a major player, the company’s online-centered grocery business still has a ways to go to cement itself as a full-basket, go-to option for grocery shopping.
In case you missed it
Albertsons launches curbside prescription pickup
The grocery chain announced this week that shoppers can use its DriveUp & Go curbside e-commerce service to pick up medications from more than 1,700 of its stores that have pharmacies. Customers can select a pickup time and prepay for their prescriptions online. Customers can add prescriptions to grocery orders or pick them up individually.
Natural Grocers expands in South Dakota
The health-focused specialty grocer plans to open a store in Rapid City, South Dakota, this summer, marking its second location in the Midwestern state. The city’s location at the edge of the Black Hills helps make it “a natural fit for the company’s continued growth,” Natural Grocers said. The grocer, which runs 169 stores in 21 states, opened its first South Dakota store in 2022 in Sioux Falls, about 350 miles east of Rapid City.
Bi-Rite to add another San Francisco store
The California-based grocer intends to open its fourth neighborhood market in the city’s Richmond District in 2027. The new store, which will occupy a building built more than a century ago that has been unused for about two years, will offer farm-direct produce, made-to-order sandwiches and an array of prepared foods. In addition to its three neighborhood markets in San Francisco, Bi-Rite also runs a creamery, a catering company and a nonprofit cooking school.
Impulse find
The independent Seattle-area grocer has built its business on its close links with the Pacific Northwest over nearly seven decades — and now the retailer is celebrating those ties with a series of mugs that reflect the six communities where it operates stores. The mugs, supplied by local drinkware maker Miir, each feature a unique design and will be sold only for a limited time.
The mugs, adorned with art from five local artists, include one for the Bainbridge Island market that features a design that pays homage to the original Town & Country location. The series also includes a mug for the chain’s Ballard location that reflects that store’s original sign, one inspired by the scenery of Western Washington for the Mill Creek store and one with imagery of the fresh seafood tanks in the company’s Shoreline location. Town & Country is also offering a mug that celebrates the flora and fauna of the area surrounding its Lakemont store and one celebrating Poulsbo’s Nordic heritage and proximity to Liberty Bay.
