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Amazon revealed its plans to close a number of its warehouses citing slow sales growth. The e-commerce and tech firm also said it would scrap its plans to build more warehouse facilities.
The decision comes after Amazon posted its sales growth earlier this year which turned out to be its slowest rating ever in two decades. The company previously laid out its plans to add more warehouses in various states in the U.S. but this is not part of the agenda now.
According to Fox Business, MWPVL International Inc. which is a full-service global supply chain, logistics and distribution consulting firm, allegedly stated that Amazon is either shutting down or giving up its plans to open at least 42 new facilities in the U.S.
The consulting firm further claimed that Jeff Bezos’ company also postponed the opening of 21 locations and dropped some projects in Europe as well. Most of these European projects were said to be mostly in Spain.
The report about Amazon’s supposed decisions regarding its warehouses comes after the company announced the closure of its two delivery hubs in Maryland. Based on the documents filed with the state of Maryland, the company is ceasing operations of its warehouses located at Charwood Road in Hanover and Kelso Drive in Essex. These facilities are set to officially close on Oct. 25.
Fox45 Baltimore reported the closure would affect more than 350 workers. A company representative said that those who will lose their jobs are being offered an opportunity to transfer to other nearby Amazon facilities.
"Amazon is a dynamic business and we are constantly exploring new locations," Maria Boschetti, Amazon’s spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital. "We weigh a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites to best serve customers.”
She went on to say, “We have dozens of fulfillment centers, sortation centers, and delivery stations under construction and evolving around the world. It is common for us to explore multiple locations simultaneously and adjust timetables based on needs across the network."
Meanwhile, Andy Jassy, the company’s current chief executive officer, previously mentioned the effects of inflation and surging costs on the firm. These surely have impacted the construction plans, but he said at that time that they had been working to cope with the changes in the market and made progress.
"Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy and transportation costs, we are making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network," he said.
