The blitz of checkout-free concession stands is continuing this fall, with announcements of eight new “Just Walk Out” stores from Amazon, four of them opening at Chicago’s United Center.
Also announced recently was an Amazon store at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville and three new stores in Canada, two at Scotiabank Arena, home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the NBA’s Toronto Raptors (opening on Oct. 10), and one at Scotiabank Saddledome, home of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, which is scheduled to open on Sept. 29. The new United Center stores, which join three existing Just Walk Out stands at the stadium, are scheduled to open on Sept. 28.
The United Center stores were announced by Amazon and Shift4 in a press release that told of payment-processor Shift4 integrating its VenueNext POS system with Just Walk Out stores to enable purchases via the venue’s mobile wallet app. According to Shift4, part of what this integration does is bring the venue’s loyalty and awards information into the Amazon store purchase process, an important time-saver for the many fans enrolled in such programs.
The Jacksonville store was announced by caterer Delaware North, which said the store, called the DUUUVAL Express, is located within the Daily’s Place area of the south end zone at the Jacksonville Jaguars’ EverBank Stadium.
Photos provided by Delaware North showed that the Jacksonville store will be more expansive than most checkout-free stands, with a number of hot food items including cheesesteak sandwiches, hot dogs, pizza, “Tex-Mex fare” and nachos. No photos or descriptions were available for any of the other stands.
By our unofficial count, the new stores bring Amazon’s stadium-specific checkout-free store total to 54. Market leader Zippin currently has 71 open or announced stores, and another competitor in the market, AiFi, has 13 stadium-specific stores. We still expect all these numbers to change again soon as more new stores get announced.
