Amazon is closing its physical Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores

Amazon is closing its branded brick-and-mortar grocery stores, with the company consolidating its physical strategy under the Whole Foods name.

The closures, which affect its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations, were announced Tuesday and amount to about 70 locations across the United States. In a blog post, the company said while it saw positive signs in the stores, it didn't create a "truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion."

As a result, some locations will be converted into a Whole Foods Market, with an additional 100 locations opening in coming years. That will include the expansion of its new, smaller spinoff called Whole Foods Market Daily Shop.

"We're grateful to our team members for their many contributions over the years and are working whenever possible to help them find roles elsewhere in Amazon, including across our vast operations network, as we make this transition," the company said.

Amazon said it's "testing new physical store experiences," including a store-within-a-store concept in Illinois that combines Amazon Grocery and Whole Foods Market. In a Chicago suburb, it's also building a 229,000-square-foot retail space that resembles a Walmart.

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