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For Amazon, “bricks and mortar” means its customer-facing physical stores—not the company’s entire business. Whole Foods Market is a current example. Amazon’s announced plans to close its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores do not make Amazon an online-only retailer: the company says it will keep operating Whole Foods Market and exploring other physical-store formats.
What does “bricks and mortar” mean?
Bricks-and-mortar retailing means selling through physical stores that customers can visit. It is often contrasted with a pure-play online retailer, which operates mainly on the internet and has no customer-facing stores. A Victorian government retail assessment uses the term in this sense: Retail in Victoria: Assessment.
Applied to Amazon, the phrase describes its physical retail operations, not every way the company sells products. A retailer can have both stores and online shopping; physical stores do not mean that a business operates only offline.
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Which Amazon businesses count as bricks and mortar?
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is a current Amazon-owned physical retailer. Amazon’s stores overview lists more than 550 Whole Foods Market stores across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as of October 7, 2026: Amazon stores.
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- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
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Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh
On May 12, 2026, Amazon said it would close its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores and convert various locations into Whole Foods Market stores. Amazon said it had not found a sufficiently distinctive customer experience and economic model for large-scale expansion of those Amazon-branded grocery stores. These are Amazon’s stated reasons and plans, not an independent assessment of the stores’ economics. The company said customers could continue to shop Amazon Fresh online in areas where it was available. Amazon’s announcement.
The same announcement said Amazon planned to open more than 100 additional Whole Foods Market stores over the next few years. That is a company plan, not a completed-store count. The announced closures and conversions also mean a single current total for all Amazon physical-store formats is not established by these figures.
Rank #2
- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and others or via Bluetooth throughout your home.
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in motion or indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
- Say goodbye to drop-offs and buffering - With eero Built-in, Echo Dot doubles as a mesh wifi extender, adding up to 1,000 sq. ft. of wifi coverage to your existing eero network.
Does Amazon count every order connected to a store as a physical-store sale?
No. Amazon distinguishes the location of a store from the channel used for a particular purchase. In its financial reporting, products customers select in a physical store are included in “Physical stores” sales. An order placed online for delivery or pickup at a physical store is included in “Online stores” sales. Amazon investor relations: quarterly results.
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|---|---|
| Selects the product in a physical store | Physical stores |
| Places an order online for delivery or pickup at a physical store | Online stores |
So “bricks and mortar” describes the presence of physical stores, while Amazon’s sales categories distinguish transactions by how customers shop.
Rank #3
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Does bricks-and-mortar retail exclude online shopping?
No. A business can combine physical stores with online shopping and fulfillment. Amazon UK’s Country Manager Doug Gurr made this point in commentary about retail in 2017/2018: “Bricks and mortar is here to stay, but is changing and evolving to include a mixture of both online and offline.” The statement describes the broader coexistence of online and offline retail; it is not evidence of Amazon’s current store count or format plans. Amazon UK: retail.
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- KEEP YOUR HOME COMFORTABLE - Control compatible smart home devices. Just ask Alexa to turn on lights or touch the screen to dim. Create routines that use motion detection to turn down the thermostat as you head out or open the blinds when you walk into a room.
Rank #4
- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and others or via Bluetooth throughout your home.
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in motion or indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
- Say goodbye to drop-offs and buffering - With eero Built-in, Echo Dot doubles as a mesh wifi extender, adding up to 1,000 sq. ft. of wifi coverage to your existing eero network.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
