Here’s your daily update on Amazon’s secretive drive-up grocery store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood: It’s still not open.
The outside of the building has looked ready for some time now, and a report in November indicated it could open by the end of 2016, but as the calendar turns to 2017, it appears work on the structure is ongoing. GeekWire recently spotted a glow emitting from inside the structure, probably from some internal construction, but we couldn’t see anyone inside. A quick check around the property showed that most of the exterior looks done, though a driveway ramp on the south side of the site remains unpaved.
Amazon representatives did not immediately return a request for comment on the project.
A series of what look like cords coming out of the paneling indicate crews may soon put up a sign, which would be Amazon’s first public acknowledgment of the store. It has not commented on the project since GeekWire first discovered it in August. But a series of clues, both in permit filings and details noticed at the site confirmed Amazon’s involvement in the project.
In addition to the Ballard store, A second drive-up grocery location, just south of downtown Seattle, is in progress as well.
The drive-up model isn’t the only grocery type Amazon is working on. Last month, Amazon unveiled a high tech convenience store model called Amazon Go that is currently in a private beta testing in Seattle and scheduled to open to the public early this year. The biggest selling point there a store free of check out lines.
Though much has been made of Amazon’s “click and pick” grocery model, it isn’t the first company to do such a thing, even in the Ballard neighborhood. Just down the street from the Amazon store, Fred Meyer introduced its ClickList drive-up grocery feature at its Ballard store. Frequent Amazon competitor Walmart also boasts a pick up grocery feature.
