Tag Archives: amazon

Amazon Stale: Southern California Amazon Fresh Closures in La Verne and Elsewhere

It took years, but the long-planned Amazon Fresh grocery store finally opened in Upland, California in May.

Amazon Fresh, Upland, California in April.

But that doesn’t mean it will STAY open. 

Four other Amazon Fresh stores will close next month, including one in nearby La Verne.

“At one Fresh supermarket in La Verne, California, employees were told to gather for an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, according to an internal message viewed by CNBC. They learned at the meeting that the store would close in mid-November….

“The other three stores that are closing are in cities of Mission Viejo, La Habra and Whittier.”

The La Verne Amazon Fresh store only opened in April 2022, and therefore only had a life of 3 1/2 years.

Which serves as a reminder that a business can have a crowded grand opening one day…

Amazon Fresh, Upland, California on May 1.

…and disappear the next.

What steps are you taking to ensure YOUR business survives for the long term?

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So this doesn’t happen to you?

Google Gemini AI image.

Amazon Not So Fresh, Mate

You may recall my series of several different posts about the long-awaited opening of an Amazon Fresh store in nearby Upland, California.

Meanwhile, they may be CLOSING Amazon Fresh stores across the pond in the United Kingdom.

“The tech giant said Tuesday (Sept. 23) that it had launched a “consultation” with employees about the proposed closure of the Fresh locations in England…”

Why? Because apparently UK shoppers don’t want to come to stores. They want the stores to come to them.

“By early 2026, Amazon aims to double the number of Prime members in the U.K. with access to three or more online grocery delivery options through its partnerships with Morrisons, Iceland, Co-op and Gopuff. This expansion will allow more than 80% of U.K. Prime members to shop at least one of Amazon’s grocery partners.”

Funny innit? Amazon shook things up by abandoning its online-only presence with its purchase of brick-and-mortar Whole Foods and its establishment of Amazon Fresh. Now it is partially retreating into its delivery model.

Revisiting Amazon Rekognition, May 2025

(Part of the biometric product marketing expert series)

A recent story about Meta face licensing changes caused me to get reflective.

“This openness to facial recognition could signal a turning point that could affect the biometric industry. 

“The so-called “big” biometric players such as IDEMIA, NEC, and Thales are teeny tiny compared to companies like Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon. If the big tech players ever consented to enter the law enforcement and surveillance market in a big way, they could put IDEMIA, NEC, and Thales out of business. 

“However, wholesale entry into law enforcement/surveillance could damage their consumer business, so the big tech companies have intentionally refused to get involved – or if they have gotten involved, they have kept their involvement a deep dark secret.”

Then I thought about the “Really Big Bunch” product that offered the greatest threat to the “Big 3” (IDEMIA, NEC, and Thales)—Amazon Rekognition, which directly competed in Washington County, Oregon until Amazon imposed a one-year moratorium on police use of facial recognition in June 2020. The moratorium was subsequently extended until further notice.

I last looked at Rekognition in June 2024, when Amazon teamed up with HID Global and may have teamed up with the FBI.

So what’s going on now?

Hard to say. I have been unable to find any newly announced Amazon Rekognition law enforcement customers.

That doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. Perhaps the government buyers are keeping their mouths shut.

Plus, there is this page, “Use cases that involve public safety.”

Nothing controversial on the page itself:

  • “Have appropriately trained humans review all decisions to take action that might impact a person’s civil liberties or equivalent human rights.”
  • “Train personnel on responsible use of facial recognition systems.”
  • “Provide public disclosures of your use of facial recognition systems.”
  • “In all cases, facial comparison matches should be viewed in the context of other compelling evidence, and shouldn’t be used as the sole determinant for taking action.” (In other words, INVESTIGATIVE LEAD only.)

Nothing controversial at all, and I am…um…99% certain (geddit?) that IDEMIA, NEC, and Thales would endorse all these points.

But why does Amazon even need such a page, if Rekognition is only used to find missing children?

Maybe this is a pre-June 2020 page that Amazon forgot to take down.

Or maybe not.

Couple this with the news about Meta, and there’s the possibility that the Really Big Bunch may enter the markets currently dominated by the Big Three.

Imagine if the DHS HART system, delayed for years, were resurrected…with Alphabet or Amazon or Meta technology.

We are still in the time of uncertainty…and may never go back.

(Large and small wildebeests via Imagen 3)

One Product You Cannot Get at Amazon Fresh

I went back to the Upland Amazon Fresh at noon, primarily to see how Amazon incorporates technology into its services.

Amazon Fresh supports the Dash Carts I discussed in a previous post. (The Whole Foods I visited this morning does not.) These let you scan your items as you take them from the shelves, speeding your checkout.

Dash Cart in the wild.

Another device speeds your checkout by weighing your produce before checkout. Looks like you have to manually input the item number, though.

Weigh now and check out later.

This device appeared to be for returns, but I wasn’t really sure.

QR code for…something.

As I wandered through the store, I was impressed with the variety of groceries offered.

But I was unable to find one item in Amazon Fresh—something that is readily available at the Dollar Tree next door.

The missing item?

Books.

Remember when Amazon was only a book seller?

Amazon One Biometrics Worked. Maybe.

Because of the long line at the Upland Amazon Fresh, I didn’t want to wait around to activate my new Amazon One account. So I went to the Whole Foods on the other side of town. Then the fun began.

I had previously designated a payment card to use with Amazon One (Card #1). When I went to check out and provided my palm, I was asked to insert this card.

The reader said there was a problem with this card, so I inserted a different card (Card #2) and the payment processed on that card.

After my purchase I went back to my Amazon One app…which still showed Card #1 as my purchase card.

Not sure what’s going on.

Enrolling in the Amazon One Palm System via Smartphone

I think I’ve already mentioned that the Amazon Fresh in Upland, California is holding its grand opening in about an hour.

So I figured I should pre-investigate what was necessary to enroll in the Amazon One palm vein system once I arrived at the store.

My first discovery was that Amazon One has its own app, separate from the Amazon app. I don’t know how many apps Amazon has, but if Amazon and Meta ever merge (Amameta?), I will need a separate phone just for its apps.

So I downloaded Amazon One, linked it to my Amazon account, and waited for the instructions on how to enroll my palm at an Amazon location…

…only to find that Amazon One wanted to take pictures of both my palms, right there on my smartphone. Just like any contactless fingerprint app.

Enrolled in Amazon One.

So I am now enrolled, and I have confirmed that my local Amazon Fresh accepts Amazon Go.

Um…that is not East Foothill.

However, as even non-locals will realize, this is NOT 235 East Foothill, but WEST Foothill. So much for geolocation. (And the location of the Madonna of the Trail statue is wrong also, but I digress.)

Now let’s see if it all works.

Amazon Fresh, Just Walk Out, and Reducing Automation

Between the Upland store grand opening, my musings on Amazon One, and a combination of the two, I have focused on the Amazon Fresh retail chain lately.

But I haven’t touched on the demise of Just Walk Out.

Not because of shrinkage, but because shoppers want control…and Just Walk Out took control away.

It’s masterful, really. You just throw your purchases into your cart, and a battery of cameras record and price everything automatically.

In reality, a battery of cameras and third world workers record and price everything semi-automatically. But I digress.

Anyway, all your purchases are recorded and totaled, and your payment method is charged as you just walk out.

THEN you find out how much you just spent.

Guess what? Customers didn’t like the surprises. They wanted to know how much they were spending BEFORE they were charged.

Customers wanted a better solution:

“Shoppers said they preferred being able to track their spending during a shop, access receipts instantly, and easily find products—all things that are harder with a fully automated system.

“The new solution—smart trolleys known as Dash Carts—lets customers scan items as they shop, view their basket total in real time, and pay using contactless payment at the end.”

Dash Cart picture from https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=21289116011

The love for Amazon Dash Carts horrifies engineers, who are shocked that customers rejected the technological marvel that was Just Walk Out.

Except that customers don’t want features. They want benefits…such as being able to control their spending.

And if the manual Dash Carts offer better benefits than the automated Just Walk Out…then Just Walk Out does exactly that and leaves the premises.

And if you need to communicate the benefits of your technology solution…

Bredemarket can help:

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  • winning proposal development
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Amazon in Upland: Is a Bear a Non-Person Entity?

So the day approaches, and the Upland Amazon Fresh will hold its grand opening on Thursday, May 1.

Amazon Fresh, Upland, California.

Wonder if the bear will show up.

Image from https://abc7.com/amazon-driver-bear-delivery-in-upland-caught-on-video/11503470/

What? You forgot about the bear?

“Yes, that’s an Amazon driver in the foreground, raising his hands to try to scare a bear away so he can make his delivery. He was successful. 

“The full Storyful video can be found here. (And of course it’s a Ring video. You didn’t expect a Nest video, did you?)”

I wonder if the bear’s paw will work with the palm vein reader.

Imagen 3. What’s the Amazon One error rate for THIS demographic group?

By the way, this is a reminder that Bredemarket provides its services to local Inland Empire businesses also. I can offer

  • compelling content creation
  • winning proposal development
  • actionable analysis

If Bredemarket can help your stretched staff, book a free meeting with me: https://bredemarket.com/cpa/

And one more thing…

After I wrote the main body of this post, I realized that I accidentally wrote the Bredemarket trifecta, covering all three of my concentrations:

  • Identity (Amazon)
  • Technology (Amazon)
  • Inland Empire (Amazon)

If you’re concerned about Amazon taking over everything, don’t fear. It will eventually fail.

But until it does, I’m gonna make some money!

#fakefakefake

Revisiting Amazon One

Because my local Amazon Fresh post is taking off, it’s a good time to revisit the “one” thing Uplanders will encounter when they get there.

I’ve talked about Amazon One palm/vein biometrics several times in the past.

Meanwhile, Amazon One is available at over 400 U.S. locations, with more on the way.

And it’s also available (or soon will be) on TP-Link door locks. But the How-To Geek writer is confused:

“TP-Link says that these palm vein patterns are so unique that they can even tell the difference between identical twins, making them safer than regular fingerprint or facial recognition methods.”

Um…fingerprints? Must be a Columbia University grad.

And the TP-Link page for the product has no sales restrictions. Even Illinois residents can buy it. Presumably there’s an ironclad consent agreement with every enrollment to prevent BIPA lawsuits.

(Picture from Imagen 3)