Amazon is bringing two new cashierless Amazon Go stores to Chicago, including one in the Merchandise Mart, which is home to startup hub 1871 and other tech companies.
Amazon announced Monday that it plans to open the two new stores at the Merch Mart and the Prudential Plaza. The two locations will bring Amazon's total number of Go stores in Chicago to six. Amazon did not provide the exact date for when the stores expect to open.
The company also said Monday that it plans to open another store in its hometown of Seattle.
Chicago has been a priority for Amazon Go's expansion. When open, the six Chicago Go stores will be the most of any city in the U.S. Amazon Go stores are also in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City.
Amazon Go stores allow shoppers to scan a QR code at a turnstile when they walk in, grab items off the shelf, and walk out without interacting with a cash register. Cameras and sensors on the ceiling indicate when you take an item, and you get a receipt to your phone upon leaving. Amazon Go stores offer snacks, drinks, lunch options, Amazon meal kits and other convenience items.
The Merch Mart makes sense for an Amazon Go store, as the building is filled with millennial workers thanks to 1871, Braintree, Motorola and other tech companies. The Merch Mart store plans to be 930 square feet, Amazon said.
At the Prudential Plaza, located at 130 E. Randolph St., the store expects to be 1,425 square feet.
Amazon opened its fourth Chicago store in February at the Illinois Center. Its other Amazon Go locations include the Ogilvie Transportation Center, 113 S. Franklin St. and 144 S. Clark St.
Amazon reportedly wants to open 3,000 Go stores by 2021.
