Amazon rolling out new grocery format next year

Amazon is searching for staff to work a new grocery store brand that is slated to open in California next year.

The e-giant is looking to fill four positions--including grocery associate (overnight shift) and food service associate--at the future Los Angeles store, according to job posts on it website.

News of a new store was first reported by CNET and confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson Monday morning. The company said the store would be different from those in its Whole Foods chain, but declined to comment on pricing, assortment or the name of the new store. The store will use  traditional checkouts, unlike its cashierless Amazon Go convenience model, Amazon's spokesperson said.

Speculation began earlier this year that Amazon would launch a new brick-and-mortar venture separate from its Whole Foods Market chain, after former Amazon employee Brittain Ladd told the New York Times: ““People really need to understand—Whole Foods is the beginning, it’s not the end. It’s not everything.”

Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market two years ago for US$13.7 billion.

It has been reported that Amazon has signed more than a dozen store leases in the Los Angeles area. Other locations are expected to open in Chicago and Philadelphia.