Amazon’s Project Kobe combines Walmart-style supercenters with robot warehouses and AI inventory tools

Amazon is developing large-format stores under a project called Kobe that combine a Walmart-style supercenter with a robotics-powered fulfillment center embedded in the back, with confirmed locations in Orland Park, Illinois, Cherry Hill and Edison, New Jersey, and Oak Brook, Illinois, and internal documents referencing plans for dozens more if early pilots succeed. Each 225,000-square-foot store is estimated to carry roughly 250,000 items, nearly double a typical Walmart supercenter, with AutoStore robotic systems handling warehouse operations and an AI assistant called Frida helping category managers automate inventory decisions, though fulfillment costs are projected to run about 12% higher than Amazon's existing sub-same-day network. Amazon currently holds just 3% of the U.S. grocery market compared to Walmart's 21%, according to Numerator, and the first Kobe location in Orland Park is expected to open in late 2027