Amazon Fresh Cuts Ribbon On New Fairfax Boulevard Store, Bringing Hundreds Of Jobs To City

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Hundreds of people stood in the rain early Thursday morning, waiting for the 7 a.m. grand opening of the new Amazon Fresh store in the Point 50 shopping center in Fairfax City.

City resident Thomas Castro showed up at 3:55 a.m. to grab the first spot in the line.

"I've been really curious about the store and I am really interested in this," he said. "They're watching you and they're paying attention to what you put in your cart, so you don't have to stand in line. You just walk out and you're done."

Castro was referring to the Just Walk Out technology that allows customers who want to use it to scan the in-store QR code in their Amazon app using Amazon One or by inserting a credit or debit card to open one of the Just Walk Out gates.

Every time a customer takes an item off the store shelves, it's added to their virtual shopping cart. Anything they return to the shelves is taken out of their cart. Once they've finished shopping, customers can use Amazon One, a credit or debit card, or the In-Store QR code in the Amazon app when exiting the store.

Customers who'd rather not use the Just Walk Out technology can still enter Amazon Fresh and make purchases just like any another grocery store. They can then use cash, SNAP/EBT, and credit or debit cards to pay for their purchases.

“This is a brilliant marriage of the 21st century technology and access healthy, fresh, high-quality food," Fairfax Mayor David Meyer said, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday. "We are thrilled that Amazon has come to this place. Amazon is known for quality, excellent service, a commitment to its employees and most especially the communities they serve. This store will create over 200 new jobs and will offer great products to our residents and businesses throughout the central Fairfax region."

The 30,000-square-foot Fairfax Amazon Fresh store is also supporting several of the city's community initiatives.

The store will be donating its unsold food to local food banks, including the Capital Area Food Bank, and supporting the Lamb Center, which is the city's daytime drop-in homeless shelter. It's also committed to supporting the George Mason Enterprise Center, which will soon be operating out of an office nearby on Eaton Place, and the new Nova Labs maker space on Jermantown Road.

Tiffany Pressley, manager of Fairfax Amazon Fresh, told the crowd that her team was excited to welcome customers to the store.

"Everyone on the team has worked extremely hard to give you some fresh, full shelves and a great experience today," she said. "We're so happy to have everyone here."

Once the ribbon-cutting ceremony was over, customers began trickling in, with those at the beginning of the line receiving special opening-day giveaways.

"I'm excited about being able to provide the first full-size grocery store on the East Coast, with the Just Walk Out technology that gets all of these people in and out quicker than anywhere else, get them home to their tables," said Jim Gillespie, Amazon Fresh's district manager.

Amazon had specific reasons for choosing Fairfax City as the location for its new store, according to Gillespie.

"The amount of population and people in the area, George Mason University, it's going to be spectacular for all those students," he said. "And then, obviously, all the residents in the area. There's growth everywhere. With all of the condos and all of that, it's going to be able to provide food for the community."

The new Fairfax Amazon Fresh has hundreds of full- and part-time employees and the company will soon be staffing-up for its three new stores opening in Lorton, Manassas and Arlington. Those interested in learning more about job opportunities can visit www.amazonstores.jobs.

"There are good grocery stores and there are not so good grocery stores. This is a great grocery store," said Christopher Bruno, director Fairfax City Economic Development, on Thursday. "This is a store that's going to serve more than just the immediate Fairfax City community. It's going to provide access to a lot of neighborhoods that have to cut down on the distance from grocery stores. It's going to attract people from around the region as well."

Amazon Fresh Fairfax, which is located at 10360 Fairfax Blvd., will be open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.