Amazon is closing 6 Whole Foods stores across the US. See the list of stores that will shutter.

Amazon is closing six Whole Foods locations in four states.
Five of the stores will close on May 6, with one Chicago location remaining open until a later date.
Amazon recently closed nearly 70 retail shops to focus on its grocery business.

Amazon is closing six Whole Foods stores across four states, the e-commerce giant confirmed.

The closing locations are located in Montgomery, Alabama; Mobile, Alabama; Brookline, Massachusetts; Tarzana, California; and two stores in Chicago, Bloomberg first reported. There are about 500 Whole Foods locations around the world.

"As we continue to position Whole Foods Market for long-term success, we regularly evaluate the performance and growth potential of each of our stores, and we have made the difficult decision to close six stores," a Whole Foods spokesperson told Bloomberg. Five of the six stores are scheduled to close on May 6, with the other Chicago location closing at an unspecified date.

Amazon acquired Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion, and today it accounts for just $2.4% of the US grocery market. In the period since it acquired Whole Foods, Amazon has also grown its own grocery brands, Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh.

In March, Amazon announced it would close 68 physical stores, including Amazon Books, Amazon 4-Star, and Amazon Pop Up stores in the US and UK. That decision was part of a plan to focus on grocery, the chain told Insider at the time.

Amazon is at an "inflection point," in terms of brick and mortar strategy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai RJ Hottovy told Insider. Amazon can refine its strategy at this point to figure out what the relationship between Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh will be going forward.

The retailer just added Amazon "Just Walk Out" technology to a Washington, DC Whole Foods. The technology is used in Amazon Fresh stores and allows customers to skip the cash register and leave with their groceries, which are charged to their Amazon account.

Changes at Whole Foods show that Amazon is still evaluating its Whole Foods strategy as it aligns with other stores and online business, senior director of digital commerce at Kantar Celia Van Wickel previously told Insider.

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