SEATTLE — On a busy stretch of road in this city’s Ballard neighborhood, a curious new grocery store is taking shape —
and so begins another effort by Amazon to use the residents of its hometown as guinea pigs.
Almost a decade ago, the company conducted one of its biggest local experiments when it started a grocery
home delivery service, tinkering for almost five years before expanding the concept to a new city.
One of Amazon’s more puzzling retail experiments in Seattle is the Treasure Truck, a roaming delivery truck retrofitted with carnival-style lights
and signs, from which customers can pick up items offered during flash sales through the Amazon mobile app.
“Seattleites will say they hate Amazon taking over downtown,
but at the same time when Amazon rolls out something special, after everyone complains about it, the first thing people want to do is go check it out,” said Mr. Croft, who says his employment with another technology company doesn’t color his views of Amazon.
“I look at Seattle as the center of the retail universe,” said Herb Sorensen, a researcher
and consultant to brands on shopping behavior, referring to Amazon’s activities in the city.
“They don’t want to be flying teams around a lot to have them be hands-on with their beta operations and experiences.”
The company opened its first Amazon Go store on the ground floor of one of its
office buildings, where employees can buy prepared meals, drinks and snacks.
Amazon isn’t alone in using Seattle, home to Starbucks and other major retail brands, as a proving ground for new ideas in stores.