Amazon Fresh’s closure means nearly 150 job cuts at East Setauket store

Approximately 144 employees at Amazon’s East Setauket Amazon Fresh store are expected to be laid off permanently this April, according to formal correspondence sent on Tuesday to local and county officials and obtained by Greater Long Island.

The letter, which Amazon states was issued in accordance with the federal and New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Acts, says the company “will be separating employees” at its East Setauket location on Nesconset Highway.

“Employee separations resulting from this action are expected to be effective April 28,” the letter states, adding that Amazon is providing “at least 90 days’ notice to all affected employees” as well as required state and local officials.

The correspondence, dated Wednesday, Jan. 28 but received on Tuesday, makes clear that the layoffs are not temporary, stating that “employee separations resulting from this action are expected to be permanent.”

It comes on the heels Seattle-based retail giant’s announcement that it’s closing all of its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go brick-and-mortar grocery stores nationwide, including locations the Eaast Setauket location and one in Oceanside. Most of the closures will occur on Feb. 1.

The WARN notice was sent to Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico, the Suffolk County Local Workforce Development Board, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, Three Village Central School District Superintendent Kevin Scanlon, and the Setauket Fire Department, among others. Amazon said in the letter that notice was also being provided simultaneously to the New York State Department of Labor.

According to the letter, 105 Retail Store Associate I employees, 33 Food Production Associate I employees, and several management-level workers will be affected. The notice states that the employees “are not represented by a union or any other collective bargaining representative” and that Amazon does not allow displaced workers to replace other employees based on seniority, noting that “no ‘bumping rights’ exist.”

Amazon said affected employees will be paid all wages and benefits to which they are entitled through their separation date, provided they do not resign prior to that date. The company also stated that “on or before the effective date of each employee’s separation, Amazon will provide information concerning benefits and (as applicable) severance” to eligible workers.

The letter further notes that employees who accept internal transfer opportunities prior to their separation date “will not be separated as a result of this action.”

Amazon announced earlier on Tuesday that it was shutting down its 72 Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, as the company pivots away from its Amazon-branded physical grocery concepts while continuing to expand Whole Foods Market and online grocery delivery.

The East Setauket store opened a little over a year ago amid significant fanfare, with shoppers lining up before dawn on opening day.

When the Plainview Amazon Fresh store closed at the end of last summer (less than a year after opening) Amazon had said there were no plans to close its remaining Amazon Fresh locations on Long Island. Meanwhile, expansion had slowed and a plans for proposed Farmingville store were abandoned despite completed construction at the site.

Greater Long Island has reached out to Amazon for with questions regarding the East Setauket closure. A spokesman for Amazon referred back to the company’s Tuesday announcement of the closures.

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