Amazon decides to close and scrap plans for dozens of US facilities

According to Canadian consulting firm MWPVL International Inc., which monitors Amazon's presence in the real estate industry, the largest online retailer has decided to abandon dozens of existing and planned warehouses all over the United States. The reasons were a slowdown in sales growth and subsequent reduction in the current staff of the delivery service, which has recently grown significantly.

To date, Amazon.com Inc. has announced that it is phasing out 42 objects across the country, totaling about 25 million square feet of usable space. Plans to open some facilities have been canceled, while other ones have been completely closed. The opening of 21 locations covering 28 million square feet has been postponed, MWPVL reported. Apart from this, some European projects, mostly Spanish ones, have also been canceled by the online retail giant.

Amazon's two delivery stations, located in Hanover and Essex, near Baltimore, which employ more than 300 workers, are preparing to close next month, the company told Maryland officials this week.

The current situation is quite different from Amazon's previous years, as before that the start of each new fall season was accompanied by the opening of new facilities and the hiring of thousands of employees in preparation for the pre-holiday shopping season.