New York City residents will soon have a chance to start ordering groceries from Amazon Fresh, Re/code reported today. According to a pair of unnamed sources briefed on Amazon’s plans, the company plans to roll out its grocery delivery service to the Big Apple as early as next month. The Amazon Fresh service will be based out of a warehouse in Avenel, New Jersey, where Amazon has been accumulating food inventory for the service. Avenel is close to Staten Island, New York, and within striking distance of Manhattan for delivery’s sake.
Amazon is preparing to start its Fresh grocery delivery business in New York City as early as next month, according to two people who have been briefed on the plans, as the online retailer takes more aggressive steps toward making its same-day delivery service national. The company has been building up its food inventory in a warehouse in Avenel, N.J., with the goal of launching its grocery delivery business in New York City as early as October, one of these people said. The warehouse is located about 20 to 25 miles from Manhattan, in a part of New Jersey near Staten Island, New York. Re/code previously reported that Amazon was prepping this facility for grocery delivery, but it wasn’t clear at the time whether it would be used to launch the delivery business in New York City or New Jersey. Amazon may eventually launch its grocery delivery business in Philadelphia as well, using food stored in the Avenel facility, this person said. Rumors of launches in other east coast and midwestern cities have intensified in recent months in grocery industry circles.
