Submitted by Happy_rich_mane t3_123l4st in massachusetts
I’ve got a basically finished Amazon Fresh that used to be a Shaws in my city and no one seems to know when and if it will open. I know this is the case for others as well. Anyone have any info? I’d be interested in other citizens’ thoughts on the whole concept of Amazon Fresh in our communities as well since it seems like a major part of their model is having very few employees and as of now no employees at all.
https://www.wcvb.com/amp/article/amazon-fresh-grocery-store-locations-dormant-massachusetts/43249583
I’m pretty sure due to their financial situation and layoffs they’re re-evaluating their brick and mortar strategy. I wouldn’t be surprised if they either sit dormant for a while or close all together.
I can’t speak to subsidies but they could be part of a federal opportunity zone potentially. I doubt they received anything specific for these stores.
Yeah this is the only article there is and all it says is no one knows anything. I agree I think the buildings will just sit empty now. The one near me is completely unsecure and has no cameras around it at all so it doesn’t seem to be of much concern to the company. As to the subsidies you may be right but Amazon is notorious for demanding consideration from local governments for its warehouses so I’m skeptical. And that’s to say nothing of the opacity of our state government.
The company I used to work for did some construction work for a contractor that got a Amazon warehouse in CT.
Everything is completed for the past 3 months, but the warehouse is still sitting empty.
They tore down Showcase Cinemas in Revere that was there for decades… for an empty Amazon warehouse. I had my first date in that movie theater. It’s both extremely depressing and infuriating
When you can afford to secure your monopoly by owning all the spaces where a competitor might set up shop
I think you're referring to the one I know about in central mass. My good friend is the store manager at TJMaxx across the parking lot and they don't know anything about it either. Looks like it's sitting dormant. I live a couple towns over and am in that area a lot for BJs and Market Basket (they're also opening an Ulta next door).
There's also the Amazon warehouse where the Greendale mall used to be. Our friend who is a Worcester fire fighter said that there's some electrical mess with electrical lines for the trains that go under the building (something to that effect) that is stopping them from being able to use the building. It could be a rumor but he said that there are no plans to use that building.
Yeah I’m in Leominster now I walk by it everyday. The site is open and there’s no cameras anywhere. I also coincidentally used to live by the Worcester warehouse as well and I think your friend is right about it never opening. They announced at the end of last year they were closing 5 around the state that had opened because they overgrew. It just kind of sucks and it really makes me question the rationale of the officials green lighting these projects.
I just the question the logic from a public governance view. Why would you want a grocery chain in your local community that is almost entirely automated and tracks your biometrics and face while you’re inside.
A lot of companies grew exponentially during the pandemic because of nature of the services they offered (amazon, shopping/delivery services, peloton, etc.) and for whatever reason thought that growth would continue even when the world would eventually go back to normal. They made bad decisions to expand, invest, etc. and now they're paying the price. It sucks, but what they did was super short sighted. I am no expert, but this is definitely what it seems...
I’m local to there, not in Saugus but close by anyway.
Awhile back, maybe last summer or early fall in the Facebook page there were lots of inquiries as to what is going on etc, and some people from Saugus said it had to do with how many jobs they told the city/town they were going to offer and it ended up being a fraction of that. It could be wrong and way off but it was going around 6-9 months ago.
I know! I hate that it’s closed. We go to the Woburn showcase now. Not too far but revere was closer. That’s the warehouse and now the Amazon fresh a bit further up route one same thing, empty.
Braintree has an empty one too. How are we not able to find out WHY. Need answers and details!!
It’s exactly what happened. Short sighted indeed as these expanding companies’ CEOs went on CNBC yelling about inflation and knowing low interest money would go away soon. But for a company like Amazon tying up these properties in desirable areas is a net positive as it now bars competition from using that space and allows them to consolidate. The public will feel the most consequences.
Big Y closed 2 years ago last week. Not sure exactly when the signage started going up.
Blame the state for allowing it. And everyone that shops via Amazon.
Found one thing about North Andover. According to this article, North Andover is giving Amazon $27 million in tax incentives.
Seems to be a pattern with them.
I’d estimate a good 9 months it’s been there, the sign and the what looks to be completed building.
According to this article from 2020 Northbridge Partners is leasing it to Amazon. As far as I know it is still empty, but Revere hasn't really offered any tax incentives to have them there.
The worst part is that Worcester shut down a mixed used building project in the Greendale plaza for that stupid warehouse. Basically everyone was calling it out on the local sub that we didn't need any more Amazon locations, but the city let them start the project anyway. It was always going to be a shit location for all that extra traffic, too, which is why the Greendale Mall was never very good to begin with.
Also, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/economic-development-incentive-program-edip is where you can go to look at which businesses received credits to lower taxes in exchange for job creation.
Omg remember the old green seats?! The best! That's the one place I'm truly sad about being torn down.
ThNk you!!
The one article I could find mentioned that city some towns signed NDAs with the company
Is this the one in Windsor Locks?
I wonder if they’re planning to use these things seasonally. Like when holiday volume increases, the warehouse is activated.
It’s the one in Plainfield actually.
That is nuts..I live 5 minutes up the street from the Worcester spot. They tore the entire mall down and built this eyesore to now not use it…someone needs to look into this. There is some widespread shadyness going on.
The state should make them return the property to its original state. I.e. movie theater or make it open space/parkland
Maybe. Or they over extended themselves and are trying to cut back expenses, which isn’t shady. Typically you budget based on projected revenue and profit, if those go down, you don’t have as much money anymore and you start canceling projects.
Why would Revere offer Amazon tax incentives? And why is the council so excited to have Amazon "instead of residential housing"?
^This. Stop & Shop did this for years (90's - 00's) in eastern & central Mass towns to secure their empire. Smaller supermarket chains would close and they would buy out the leases and/or purchase the buildings.
Reading through this thread it seems there is something fishy going on. Probably a few things going on.
If the buildings are in an industrial or commercial zone, then zoning laws may tie local politicians hands.
Revere City Council is the saddest pair of people in charge of a city. One of them was a legitimate functioning drug addict who just recently died of an overdose - George Rotondo. Then you have the old racists like John Powers, the opportunist Jessica Giannino who turned her street in to a one-way so people wouldn’t drive on it, Anthony “immigrants breed like cockroaches” Zambuto… quote published in the Revere Journal for everyone to see. Fuck them all. The only reason they have a job is because the old townies vote for them like their life and identity depend on it
When Joe Gravellese challenged Jessica Giannino to a debate, he made an absolute fool of her. The city voted for her anyway. That’s Revere’s City Council.
Also a few minutes from the Worcester Distribution. On Grove St, there is an Amazon hiring center, and most of the jobs for that building were just posted a couple days ago.
And though I think building that warehouse was not the best use of the area, the mall needed to go. There were only like 2 stores left in it, and that building had problems from the moment it was first built.
Nevermind the number of trucks doing 90% of the wear and tear on the roads (that they won't be paying for). The amount of trash that they produce. And the possibility of things like drone drops in the future.
When we have plenty of jobs and not enough housing, it makes no sense. But the city council is always falling all over themselves thinking they will get Fortune 500 money in the coffers. They never do.
Yes and honestly until I read this post I had no idea they were all over MA doing the same thing. I’d not seen another before.
Everyone in the state should be thankful Joe Petty lost that state senate primary. He's such a slimy buffoon.
A similar situation played out on Cape Cod in Bourne... Shaws used to have a place off of Macarthur Blvd but Stop and Shop came in, bought them out, and left the store empty to eliminate the competition. Amazon can sing their song, and dance their dance, however, this behavior of anti-competition, and monopolistic tactics have not only been at the forefront of Amazon's marketing division but a requirement. This being said, I doubt that Amazon has any interest in opening many of their new stores
Same here in Everett. Lord knows how much money DeMaria lined his pockets with. Crooked fuck.
I can’t think of a more brazenly corrupt group of people than those on the city councils of cities in the north shore. I’ve heard some really horrible stuff about Everett’s City Council as well. Nobody gives a shit either, because the north shore isn’t as appealing of a topic to discuss as something happening within inner Boston
If you don't want to give Amazon money you cannot use a lot of websites. They don't just sell stuff, Amazon Web Services is their most profitable division. You are using it by using reddit.
Oh my god, you are so smart!
This seems like a good place to plug an amazingly informative book on this subject that I think all Americans need to read. “The Privatization of Everything” by Donald Cohen and Allen Mikaelian.
There are like 7 warehouses in a 20 mile radius from Worcester. I don't understand it.
They're just being an ACKTUALLY eternally online smartass.
I don't mind indirectly supporting aws as much as I do the retail side. AWS competes with Google and Rackspace whereas retail competes with local shops. I get that AWS gives them cash flow to buffer the retail side, but that's where I sit. I still buy from Amazon, but I try to make it my second choice where I can.
All over the country. Not just Amazon either. A lot of these big corporations seem to be making huge promises for how many jobs they'll create in order to get concessions, then they only deliver a fraction of them.
S&S did this in Eastham, Ma when MB was looking for an area to open a store on the outer Cape. The bought up a perfect tract of land that is still sitting dormant right on Rt 6.
Oh wow. What do they get like tax breaks for bringing in jobs and “improving” the area ? There seem to be no consequences to not holding up their end of the bargain, or else it’s cheaper to pay the fines or whatever than to operate as planned.
I think amazon likely just moved into this spot for it's immediate proximity in either direction to rt1.
I can't speak for Revere, but I live in another town with a soon to be million square foot distribution center. The Town did not offer Amazon anything. Amazon presented a proposal, the Select Board reviewed it, and the entire town had the opportunity to vote on it. Amazon "negotiated" a ten year phase in of full property taxes, in exchange for the location agreement. Amazon also paid the Town something like $500,000 for local impacts, agreed to fund some street/traffic improvements at their two driveways, gave a substantial donation to a neighboring non-profit nature center, and also promised money for a bandstand. If we did not agree, they would take their proposal to a neighboring town.
Towns prefer business over residential housing. Housing brings families with kids, whose property tax contribution is a net negative with respect to the cost to educate kids. *Spelling
There used to be a airsoft field right off of the Bourne rotary that was owned by Stop and Shop. They bought the land to sit on it and prevent the construction of a competing supermarket in such prime real estate.
There’s a half finished empty one in Billerica where Kmart used to be. I was wondering when they’d finish it but it seems it’ll probably sit empty. Though, an empty Amazon fresh is probably still an upgrade from Kmart…
this says the town projects $85 million in tax revenue over the next 20 years from the warehouse, so maybe it wasn't a horrible deal.
I will never forgive Amazon for destroying the Revere Showcase Cinema
> Amazon "negotiated" a ten year phase in of full property taxes
That's a subsidy net of whatever the upfront payment is (that's actually paid).
We have one in Milford. I should know.. the 18 wheelers go right by my house. Wonder what deal they got?
Pretty sure Amazon decided to pull the plug on many projects and instead has shut down many of their physical retail locations which were operating in addition to multiple warehouses they had which were online and running
And a lot of places are offering lower prices than Amazon. Gamestop comes to mind.
Yup. They confirmed they were shutting down 5 operating warehouses last summer and paused the Amazon fresh expansion nationwide in February.
Amazon Fresh isn't working out so they stopped doing it... this is, amazingly, quite normal. They're probably paying rent on the vacant buildings so it's not like they're doing it for fun.
None of that matters in this case - you're using resources by browsing reddit which reddit pays Amazon for. Reddit hypothetically is losing money here, not amazon, they get paid for providing the resources no matter what.
Is is supposed to be an open to the public facility, many of them are delivery only.
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ET head no more...
How about the movie theatre and that monstrosity that they built there that seems to be sitting idle. I read someplace that they are just abandoning projects like this because of there financial stuff
You didn’t lose out, better an empty building than the previous tenant.
While I am sad about it and also hate Amazon, the Cinema went out of business on its own. Movie theaters have been on a downward slope for a long time and struggling to stay relevant against streaming services and high quality home viewing. I treasure theatrical releases and saw no problem with it, but it's a harsh reality that movie theaters need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant with the masses.
There's a place in New Hampshire I forget the name of that has tables in the theater rooms and they let you order from the movie theater and bring your food to you at the tables in the theater room. That's the kind of stuff movie theaters need to do to stay relevant.
Big y does the same. All retail companies do. If you really want to get upset and angry look into the companies that pay rent to themselves via a shell company.
I mean I thought the big y was pretty alright. Amazon sucks, obviously.
Same thing is happening just north of the border in Nashua.
They did it in Bourne too, right next to the rotary. Pretty much forced the best airsoft/paintball field in New England out when they bought it
Sure, but my point was the town didn't offer it. It is what they settled on.
They have good employees but it’s essentially run by a group of people that are as transparent as a brick wall, you just don’t hear about it much because they have the local news in their pocket. They also have no desire to improve, only to the extent it affects their image.
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I mean by my estimation in this region Big Y is behind Stop and Stop, Shaws/ Star Market, market Basket, and buying groceries at Walmart. Impressive that local media is Controlled by Big Y. I mean sure I’d rather support local grocers or farmers markets or whatever, and I didn’t think of them as saints or anything, but it seemed like a fine place to stop in to pick up supplies for dinner on the way home from work. There isn’t even one in my area now, but I’d be interested in knowing what makes them any worse than say Shaws, or Stop and Shop.
i don't think this is shady necessarily, just really, really miscalculated. i feel like the MO of tech companies is to dump a bunch of cash on some moonshot thing, find out a year or two in it probably wasn't worth it, and then just cut it/leave it in disrepair. thats the feeling im getting from this situation.
Towns in general can offer incentives for businesses to come in and develop. It's a nice little premium that can help make the first year ROI nice.
Normally though there's a clause somewhere that if they don't produce, they have the regular taxes to pay and will get charged starting at x year. I forget the place you can find most of them but I'm sure a call to your BoS could get some info.
I would think public records law trumps an NDA between the company and a town in Massachusetts. Submit a public records request to your town / city govt and follow up with AG's office if you get no response.
I agree from a purely business perspective it’s not so much shady as it is ill advised and gluttonous. I look at it more from a public good perspective in that this happens and has happened everywhere all the time forever. Companies promise jobs and investment but local governments fail to negotiate firm commitments and these benefits don’t materialize, leaving the communities with less resources, less competition, and the lost opportunity of these locations being used productively.
There is one in Carver. They built new roads and intersections in land that was formerly woods. Nearby homeowners in two towns were threatened with imminent domain if they didn't sell. It just sits there empty.
I think I’m going to do this. I’ve also thought about calling local papers to see if anyone is covering it.
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malden and points west...
My local GameStop is more expensive than Amazon, sells opened games as new and is basically a ghost town at this point. If you’re shilling their shitty stock because you’re in a memestonk cult, gtfo here baggie.
Woah what? Where’s Ulta going? Next to Amazon/TJMaxx or MB?
oh, i absolutely agree. i just think in this case it's not explicitly malice, although i could be convinced otherwise. i DO think that the way tech companies are run are somewhere between stupid and malicious, still not sure on which side of the line they're on yet. but i doubt there's any corruption happening at a large scale.
You mean other than the systemic corruption of the monied interests backing these companies who control our political system.
right. i'm talking, some low level government official that handles building permits getting handed a bag of money with a big $ symbol on it while a corporate exec twirls his mustache type of corruption
Same thing in my town. They started building one in a strip mall (bought a bunch of units and demoed them, worked on the exterior and electricity inside, etc.) It was supposed to be ready over a year ago. They never finished the inside and it’s just been sitting there.
For sure. We’re definitely in the second Gilded Age but the robber barons don’t wear monocles anymore. I think a lot of it comes down to the misalignment of power where a business like Amazon is able to lobby and dictate the terms of contracts while providing very little in concrete guarantees to these local governments.
Joe grav is awesome
Next to Amazon fresh (or whatever will end up there) in Leominster. There are the Ulta “orange awnings” next door. I also want to say the mayor mentioned it on his Facebook page that an Ulta would be going in there too. I think that’s where pier 1 was back in the day.
knowing how amazon does things, have fun when they prematurely shutter it to avoid the graduated tax increases!
These are great. Thanks for the resources
Yeah, I asked at the public hearing what provisions there were for abandoned giant buildings when they inevitably vacate, but no one had a good answer. New England is full of abandoned mills, and towns can pay big bucks to maintain/demolish/clean them up.
Came across this in another sub, thought it might be of interest here.The Employment Effects of Tax Subsidies for the Construction of Amazon Facilities
dan420 t1_jdv2yy8 wrote
There was a Big Y on rt 1 Saugus that has the same thing going on. It’s looked like an Amazon fresh for month, if not a year, but shows no signs of opening.