Amazon has already made it's mark on the Seattle skyline. They have a few biospheres in the works. They opened Prime Now delivery hubs around town. They even opened their first brick & mortar bookstore here. So what's next? A drive-up grocery store, apparently.
GeekWire has looked at permits filed with the city that call for a 9,759 square-foot retail space at 5100 15th Ave. N.W. in Ballard where customers can pick up groceries ordered online. The permits refer to it as "a new model of grocery shopping" but the company behind the project has been kept under wraps. In fact, they only ever refer to the proposed grocery store as "Project X."
That's totally the kind of thing Amazon would do.
GW thinks it has to be Amazon because the language used in the permits is almost identical to language used in planning documents for Amazon's drive-up grocery stores plans in the San Francisco area. Both projects are using Ware Malcomb as the architect and that company also designed Amazon's Prime Now delivery hub.
Per GW, the hours of operation for the store would be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Shoppers will schedule a pick-up time and then either park in designated stalls to await delivery or walk up to the retail area to pick up their purchases. Customers will also be able to walk directly into the retail area and place ordes via tablet. The average wait time for pick-ups is expected to be around five minutes.
The site is probably best known as the former location of Louie’s Cuisine of China but has sat vacant for some time. As the project is in the planning stages, no word on timeframes just yet.
· Mysterious ‘Project X’ points to Amazon drive-up grocery store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood [GW]
· Amazon's Biospheres Are Finally Taking Shape in Denny Triangle [CS]
· Amazon launches Prime Now 1-hour delivery in Seattle area, including beer, wine and booze [GW]
· Amazon Beats'm & Joins'm, Opens First Bookstore in U Village [CS]