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Officials have been tight-lipped about the new Amazon Fresh store under construction in West Boca — but it’s become obvious what it is at this point.
The store, situated at the Uptown Boca shopping plaza off Glades Road near State Road 7, may be missing the sign with its name. But the building already features the identical architecture and colors as other Amazon Fresh locations across the country — down to the green-and-black paneling over a portion of the overhang. The new store also has the same signature black rectangular framework on the top half of the building along with the white paneling below it.
Amazon Fresh doesn’t list having any Florida locations yet on its website, which means the West Boca supermarket could become its first completed store in the state. As Amazon keeps adding distribution centers across South Florida, additional supermarkets could be in its plans for the region.
The top image is an Amazon Fresh store in Westmont, Illinois. While Amazon has yet to confirm it will open an Amazon Fresh grocery store in West Boca, the new grocery store under construction at Uptown Boca, shown on the bottom, is identical to the exterior layout of other such stores. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune and Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
While Amazon has remained quiet about the West Boca store, records submitted to Palm Beach County officials have described the project at Uptown Boca as a large-scale supermarket that encompasses 35,000 square feet. (An Amazon Fresh store that opened in November in Illinois similarly is 35,000 square feet.)
Amazon Fresh stores use a tech-first approach in serving customers: The stores rely on a variety of cameras and sensors to track the items that customers take from shelves.
As customers leave, the store has kept tabs and knows what to charge customers to their Amazon Prime accounts, eliminating the need for checkout lines.
An Amazon Fresh supermarket is under construction in West Boca, shown here on Monday, February 7, 2021. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
