Amazon Fresh Grocery Store To Open First IE Location In Murrieta

MURRIETA, CA — Amazon Fresh, a new grocery store designed to offer "a seamless" shopping experience, is coming to the Inland Empire with a store opening later this year in Murrieta, the city confirmed.

"It's official! The first in the region, Amazon Fresh will open in Murrieta Town Center in late fall!" the city posted on its Facebook page earlier this month.

A request for comment from Seattle-based Amazon was not immediately returned.

Currently, the company lists 18 Amazon Fresh stores nationwide on its website; eight are in California, with none in the Inland Empire. The first Amazon Fresh store opened to the public in Los Angeles in September 2020.

Amazon has been “quietly building a national grocery chain” amid the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reported earlier this year, saying that at least 28 more Amazon Fresh stores are in the works nationwide.

“As with all things at Amazon, we innovate on behalf of our customers across our grocery businesses,” Jeff Helbling, vice president of Amazon Fresh, told Bloomberg. “We know customers care about low prices, convenience, and great selection in their grocer, and we believe we offer that as well as a seamless online to in-store grocery shopping experience.”

Some of the technology Amazon Fresh shoppers in Murrieta might see include digital price tags and smart “Dash” shopping carts that tally up purchases as customers browse the aisles. Shoppers will be able to use Alexa in-store to help find items, and self-checkout will likely be offered on a greater scale than at traditional supermarkets.

All current Amazon Fresh locations offer free, same-day delivery for Amazon Prime members, according to the company website.

What will the store's selection be like? The Amazon Fresh website compares its stores to traditional supermarkets.

"You’ll find everything you typically find at a grocery store, with the low prices you expect from Amazon, including a wide assortment of national brands; high-quality produce, meat, and seafood; plus our culinary team offers a range of delicious prepared foods made fresh in store, every day," according to the website.