After a few months of speculation, Amazon Fresh finally opened the doors to its new grocery store in Irvine on Thursday, Oct. 22.

The new Irvine store, which is approximately 40,000 square feet, is just the second Amazon Fresh to open. The address is 13672 Jamboree Road inside the Market Place Shopping Center, formerly a Babies R Us. Current hours are 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Upon entering, shoppers have the option of selecting a traditional cart or can stand in an alternative entrance line to shop with an Amazon Dash Cart. The Dash Cart allows shoppers to grab their desired items, and simply go through a designated Dash Cart checkout area with green and black mats, where the transaction is finalized.

Amazon Fresh opened its doors in Irvine on Thursday, Oct. 22. (Evan J. Lancaster/Irvine Weekly)

With a traditional cart, shoppers will proceed to a checkout counter where a QR code will be generated for the final total. Sarah Ramirez, a store associate at the Amazon Fresh in Irvine, said that the evenings have gotten really busy since the opening was announced.

“Right now, we have a lot more people, because yesterday nobody really knew about it,” Ramirez said in an interview with Irvine Weekly. “So, in the evening it picked up — we’ve been going back and forth with Dash Carts trying to keep up with them.”

Ramirez added that the entire Dash Cart operates on a system of sensors, enabling it to accurately track all items. In fact, the Dash Carts even display color-coded sensors that indicated different types of items, like alcohol.

“If the sensors get blocked the [lights on Dash Cart] will turn orange, and let you know there’s an issue with the sensors,” she said. “Another thing I like is that if you have alcohol, the lights on the side will turn blue, that lets us know to we need a driver’s license, scan the back and let you go.”

In addition to the regular store hours, Amazon is also offering alternative shopping hours daily; from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. the store is open to serve customers who are 60 years and older, those with disabilities and those whom the CDC defines as high risk.

Dash Cart in action at Amazon Fresh. (Evan J. Lancaster/Irvine Weekly)

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