Amazon Could Be Eyeing Seattle for Drive-Up Grocery

SEATTLE — Metropolitan consumers may soon have another place to shop — without getting out of their cars — as plans indicate Amazon is preparing to open a drive-up grocery location in its hometown.

While plans seem to be hush-hush, GeekWire uncovered permit filings for a renovation project in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood that call for a 9,759-square-foot retail space where customers can pick up groceries that they've ordered online, in what the project team calls "a new model of grocery shopping."

According to the website, the planning documents filed with the city carry the name "Project X" and do not reference Amazon, a leader in the e-commerce space. However, the description of the project matches the language in planning documents for Amazon drive-up grocery stores planned in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In addition, GeekWire reported, the same architect who designed Amazon's planned drive-up grocery stores in the Bay Area as well as its Prime Now delivery hub in Seattle, is listed as the architect for "Project X."

As CSNews Online previously reported, in July 2015 Amazon unveiled plans to pilot a drive-thru retail store in Sunnyvale, Calif. The service combines the click-and-collect model with a traditional brick-and-mortar shopping experience. Customers will be able to place their order online and pick up their items at the designated location during a 15-minute to two-hour timeframe.