Amazon Grocery Stores Leader Tony Hoggett to Leave Company

Amazon SVP Worldwide Grocery Stores Tony Hoggett will be leaving the company.

“After nearly three years at Amazon, it’s time for the next step in my career,” Hoggett wrote in a Friday post on LinkedIn.

Amazon said in a Friday update posted on its website: “After nearly three years of leading our grocery business, helping guide the organization to new levels of impact, and building a strong team that will continue to make grocery shopping simpler, faster and more affordable, Tony Hoggett has decided to leave Amazon. We thank Tony for his many accomplishments at Amazon and especially for what he’s delivered to customers.”

Hoggett joined Amazon in January 2022 after three years at Tesco, where he served as group chief operating officer and then group chief strategy and innovation officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“My time at Amazon has been incredible, and I’m grateful to my colleagues for their support, guidance and friendship,” Hoggett wrote in his post on LinkedIn. “I’m optimistic about the work Amazon is doing to improve the grocery shopping experience for customers, and have no doubt the teams will keep the momentum going in my absence.”

Amazon has been looking to grow its presence in grocery — the one retail category in which it trails behind competitor Walmart by a wide margin, PYMNTS reported in September.

As of the second quarter, Walmart captured a share of consumer grocery spending seven times the size of Amazon’s, at 20% and 2.7%, respectively, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Whole Paycheck Report: Walmart Holds Grocery Lead Over Amazon Despite Overall Share Declines.”

Amazon is expanding its grocery reach with a new type of store, opening a store called “Amazon Grocery” within the same Chicago building that houses another Amazon-owned company’s location, a Whole Foods Market. Amazon said the new, 3,800-square-foot, small-format store is designed to offer customers a simpler way to grab “grocery top-ups” like coffee and grab-and-go meals during their regular Whole Foods visit.

The company also announced Oct. 9 that it was developing its first automated micro fulfillment center at a Whole Foods store outside Philadelphia. Hoggett said in a press release that this center will allow customers to place orders on the Amazon app while they are shopping at a Whole Foods store, and then pick up those items minutes later at checkout.