The retailer said it will work with affected employees to help them find new roles within the company and employees who leave Amazon will be given severance. Amazon operates 44 Fresh grocery stores across the country, most of which are located in California, Illinois, Virginia and Washington state. It also operates more than 20 cashier-free convenience stores in the US under the Amazon Go brand and owns Whole Foods, which it purchased in 2017 for USD 13.7 billion. As anxieties about the economy rose in the past year, the company has been aiming to rein in costs throughout its operations, including in groceries.