Amazon 4-star store opens at Mall at Millenia
An Amazon store showing off the online retailer’s top products has opened at Mall at Millenia.
The Amazon 4-star store, at 4200 Conroy Road, is the first of its kind in Orlando.
Its offerings are either top sellers, new and trending on the online retailer’s website or rated with at least four stars. They include kitchen products, electronics, books and toys.
The store features product displays based on themes such as what items customers have on their wish lists on Amazon’s website and what products are trending in Orlando.
It opens as Amazon grows its homedelivery ability in Central Florida, including rolling out the option for Orlando customers to have their orders delivered in hours or overnight earlier this year.
Drew Sheriff, director of Amazon physical stores, said there are certain products people love to see, touch and feel. He gave examples of customers at the store seeing how an Alexa device can turn on light bulbs or how a cold brew coffee maker could fit in a fridge.
The stores feature various displays where customers can see how certain Alexa voice controls work, such as how telling the device “goodnight” can make a lamp go down and activate a white noise machine.
“We’re always looking for ways to serve our customers in a new and better way,” Sheriff said.
The Orlando Amazon 4-star is the second in Florida, following one opening in Palm Beach Gardens. Another is planned for Miami Beach. There are 25 locations across the country.
Sheriff didn’t share any specific plans for future locations in Orlando but said the company is continuing to invest in the stores.
The Orlando store hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Amazon also announced earlier this month it is hiring more than 500 fulltime employees for its new warehouse in Deltona, with wages starting at $15 an hour. That project was approved for an estimated $2.5 million tax incentive from the city that is tied to job creation.
Uber Eats delivers from Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie customers in Orlando can now get avocados, milk, frozen chicken nuggets and other groceries delivered through Uber Eats.
The restaurant delivery app has partnered with Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Más, to bring delivery to those stores in Orlando, Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville.
“Our customers and communities count on us to adapt quickly to their shifting needs, and right now they need easy and safe access to their groceries more than ever before,” Adam Kirk, senior vice president of marketing for Southeastern Grocers, said in a news release. “Our home state of Florida has been on the front lines of the pandemic — we’re eager to roll out a cutting-edge service to support them both for today and into the future.”
The app also features several other stores, including Petco, Winter Park's Lombardi's Seafood and others. Purchases carry a 10% service fee and a separate delivery fee.
Ordering a single item through the app carried a delivery fee of $9.99 along with the 10% service fee Wednesday morning, but spending more could lower that delivery charge to $5.99.
For instance, a $3.22 gallon of milk by itself would cost $14.18 with fees and taxes.
Uber is expanding into a grocery-delivery market where Instacart already offers service from Publix, Aldi and other retailers.
Last year, Uber Eats launched a pilot program in Florida where app users could order items such as candy, drinks and shaving kits from Circle K. That followed Uber announcing an agreement to acquire majority ownership of online grocery provider Cornershop, which operated in Toronto, Mexico, Chile and Peru.
Cornershop now powers the grocery delivery through Uber Eats.
“Uber believes that people should be able to get to the places they need to go, grab food from their favorite local restaurants, and get daily essentials with the tap of a button,” Raj Beri, Uber's global head of grocery said in a news release.