New Amazon Fresh Store in Delaware County will give the area an economic boost
BROOMALL, Pa. (CBS) -- A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Thursday morning for the Philadelphia area's first Amazon Fresh store. It's now open for business in Delaware County.
This grand opening has created a lot of excitement in the area. And the biggest attraction is you can leave your wallet at home – all you need is the app.
The grand opening of the Amazon Fresh store was met with lines that could rival Black Friday.
"We thought people would be camping out, but nobody was," Steve Lavelle, the first customer in line, said. "So we're happy to be number one."
Lavelle says they grabbed their folding chairs and got in line around 4:30 a.m. Thursday.
As the sun rose, the line behind Lavelle grew – everyone waiting to experience the Amazon Fresh store in Broomall, Delaware County.
"For a long time, it was construction," Lavelle said. "The whole parking lot was messed up so now it's finally open. We're all happy."
The e-commerce giant opened the store along Springfield Road. It's the second in the state and the first to ditch checkout lines.
It also uses Siri to help customers navigate.
"The checkout process is great because you really just walk through a gate, you scan if you have a coupon first just like you would anywhere else and then you scan, you've already scanned to get in, so I think you rescan your phone and then there you go," a woman said.
In addition to the deals and tech savvy shopping, officials say this will be an economic boost to the area.
"Well, to our community it's gonna be a lot of tax revenue," John Longcare, the 5th ward commissioner, said. "We lost a shop, grocery store here a couple of years ago when they moved down the street. And so now, this region of Marple will now have the easiest shopping around."
This location has created hundreds of jobs and they are still hiring for roles. Anyone interested can check out Amazon's website.
