Amazon announced earlier this month that it has hired Tony Hoggett as senior VP of its physical stores. According to Reuters, Hoggett will join the retailer in January 2022 and relocate to Seattle where he will report to Amazon’s chief executive of worldwide consumer business Dave Clark.
“Over the next few months we’ll put together a plan for Tony’s transition to Amazon,” Clark said in a statement.
Hoggett will join Amazon from British supermarket retailer Tesco, where he is currently chief strategy and innovation director. He has spent his entire 31-year career with Tesco, starting in the stores as a teenager. He rose through the ranks to become CEO Asia, then group COO before taking his current post in April.
“It was a big decision to move on from Tesco but after meeting members of the Amazon leadership team and hearing the ambitions for the business and physical stores, I know it’s a journey and an opportunity that I want to be part of,” said Hoggett.
In his new role, Hoggett will be responsible for overseeing the company’s large Whole Foods unit (currently with slightly more than 500 stores nationally), its Amazon Fresh (AF) operation (currently with 13 stores in Southern California, Chicagoland and Northern Virginia as well as five recently opened supermarkets in London), Amazon Go (urban convenience stores currently with 16 locations in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Manhattan), Amazon “4-Star” general merchandise stores (currently with 30 locations in Arizona, California, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan); Amazon Pop Up stores (seven locations in Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Illinois and Washington); and Amazon Bookstores (currently 24 shops in Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington).
Industry analysts expect Hoggetts’s primary focus will be on the continuous expansion of the Amazon Fresh banner. Just in the Mid-Atlantic alone, there are at least 40 new stores in the AF pipeline.
In addition to its first East Coast store in Franconia, VA which opened in late May, new DC area AF units are expected to open over the next eight months in: Alexandria, VA; Arlington, VA; Baileys Crossroads, VA; Chevy Chase, MD (two stores – Connecticut Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue); Fairfax, VA; Falls Church, VA; Gaithersburg, MD, Lorton, VA; Manassas, VA; Springfield, VA; and three stores in the District of Columbia (H Street NE; 14th Street NW and Dupont Circle).
In the Philadelphia area, Amazon Fresh stores are expected to open in: Ardmore, PA; Bensalem, PA; Broomall, PA; Doylestown, PA; Exton, PA; Hamilton Twp., NJ; Havertown, PA; Lansdale, PA; Moorestown, NJ; Philadelphia (two stores – Market Street and 5th & Spring Garden Street); Warrington, PA; and Willow Grove, PA
In the New York Metro area AF has reportedly targeted these locations: Brookfield, CT; Bridgewater, NJ; East Brunswick, NJ; Eatontown, NJ; Holmdel, NJ; Iselin, NJ; Lodi, NJ; Nutley, NJ; Old Bridge, NJ; Paramus, NJ; Woodland Park, NJ; Oceanside, NY; and Plainview, NY.