I was in the area and needed to return something. I figured I'd try out the whole thing....

I started the return on my phone in the Amazon app.

I pulled up to the store and it reminded me a lot of a WaWa...just without the gas station part.. Think of it as an upscale 7-11.

Very clean, well laid out, open spaces and a deli at the back of the store with a Freestyle soda machine, coffee, beer, etc.


As I walked in, I opened up my app again and hit 'in store code', held my phone to the reader, and it let me in.

I walked to the counter right next to the door and told them I had a return, where they once again scanned a barcode on my phone, and... that was it... done.... they took the item, and I got an instant notification saying it's been credited.

I figure since I was there, I'd look around. It basically has the same stuff as a 7-11, and is similarly priced, but the shopping experience was much different.

Towards the back of the store, as mentioned, was a deli counter, and next to it was a refrigerated section with pre-made sandwiches and munchies like popcorn chicken. I always like to try new things, and they had a special for 6$ for a wrap or sandwich.... I figured I might as well get it fresh....and upon looking through the menu (all touch screen), they actually had a 3$ bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich as well... perfect for breakfast... but I digress.

LOTS of fancy sounding options, and I wanted something simple so I opted for a Southwest chicken wrap. They have an option to add beans for no charge, and change the lettuce options from regular shredded lettuce to romaine or something else (can't remember).... and I added onions/peppers or something like that, again, no charge. I chose a ranch and some fancy aoli or some shit.. Yeah, real technical, I know... You really can't go wrong with guacomole, chicken, southwest sauce, romaine, and diced tomatoes..

So, I notice the 'For 2$ add chips and a soda'... almost 3 oz bag of chips, and a 44oz (?) soda (zero sugar, no caffeine, for me).. for $2, was a decent deal... They had a ton of options on their freestyle so I opted for a sugar free Barqs strawberry cream soda. In the 2 minutes that it took for me to get my soda and pick out my chips, my wrap was ready. So I grabbed it, and... walked out the door.. Didn't have to stop for anything. No scanning. No nothing... Almost felt like I was shoplifting.. a foreign experience for sure.

So, as I got to my car and sat down to eat, I realized... where was the ranch cup? Where was this garlic aoli whatever the hell? Wraps can be so dry.. That's why you need the sauces... I figured I'd try it 'raw' first... before I went in and complained... and I'm glad I did...

The first bite, was jam packed with flavor, juicy chicken and tomatoes, crunchy tortilla strips (?) and a hint of the garlic aoli whatever and ranch.... just enough to taste it but not overpowering....

Now, lemme tell you something. Tomatoes are a hard thing to do right in a commercial setting. If they're frozen, they're mush. Refrigerated, usually picked when they're not ripe enough and have almost no flavor.. THESE tomatoes, though? You could taste them. Fresh, delicious tomato. If you told me this was picked out of someone's backyard, I would have believed you, they were that good. The star of the show, for sure. The juiciness of the tomatoes almost too much, with each bite forcing a little bit of tomato liquid out the end of the wrap.. All of the different flavors was like listening to a symphony, and being able to pick out each instrument, but also able to listen to the composition as a whole, whose product exceeded the value of the individual parts alone. Delicious. Easily one of the top 5 wraps I've ever had....

I absolutely destroyed it...

Now, here's the other part. Not only was it insanely fast, it was super convenient, there were no lines (granted, I didn't show up at noon)... and I was in AND out, in less than 11 mins (they actually time it, and tell you how long you were in the store), and that included me returning my item, walking around for 5-6 minutes just seeing what they had, ordering my sandwich, getting my food, and out the door. I realistically could see this being a 3 minute transaction if you were just running in and ordering something and running out. Even quicker if you only needed to grab some basics.. Since there's no cashier, there's no line... so you can swipe in, grab what you want off the shelf, and walk out.... That's it. The convenience factor for these stores is through the roof. You can essentially treat it like your kitchen....Walk in, grab something from the fridge, and walk out..... and be in the store for less than 30 seconds, if you wanted to..

8$ for a full meal these days is a pretty damn good deal, if you ask me, and as much as it pains me to say this, I won't be going to Chic-Fil-A for wraps anymore if I'm close enough to one of these stores. Not only does it taste better, but it's also less expensive. Meals with wraps are like $11 at CFA now...

Pricing was about on-par for a 7-11/convenience store. The notable exceptions being the upscale options like fresh FroYo at $5 a bowl... There were some decent deals on California rolls/sushi, like buy 2 packages, get 4$ off, which ended up @ 10$/ 4 rolls, which isn't bad... and other similar 'buy 1 for $2 or 2 for $3' type promotions.

There were 3 employees there. I was able to chat/bs with 2 of them, asking them about a couple things since I was new to the whole thing, and they were off the charts with their customer service... answering some of my questions before I even asked them, because they knew what I was gonna ask next based on where the conversation was headed. If I was still managing a retail location, these are the people I would want representing my company.

Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed, and while I don't expect to use the store much, since I plan ahead, it will definitely be on my short list of places to grab a quick bite if I'm out and want to treat myself. For others who routinely stop somewhere on the way in to work to grab a coffee, or something to munch on, I could definitely see this being a daily, and maybe even a 2x daily, excursion...

The Amazon return store here is in a building at the edge of a mall with hardly and signage and a bugger to find and the scanners are crap. The gal could not read the thingie on my phone so she had to scan it in with her phone and brighten it. I will probably be dead and buried before this town gets such a place as you visited.

Great review, TW. I've never seen one of those stores.

The "hidden" transaction system is getting people in trouble that work at AMZN. They have these stores on campus and the employees get so used to it, they do the same thing at the local C-Store. Have to come back and explain "I wasn't shoplifting, I'm just used to the one at work."

Everything is tracked by weight right now, so it will work for small things you get at a C-store. Exponentially more difficult for a grocer to have this.

next to TSC?

I have never seen one of those stores, but I love a good wrap! (Googling locations now).

Yep, great review TW!

176th and Canyon is the one I went to.

I'd have to go to Seattle or Frederickson to visit one....nothing closer than that to me. I'm not going to Seattle Libtard land just to get a wrap.

lol. Nor should you.

Went back today to try a speed run.

They failed.... but... bonus... I got 2 wraps for the price of one... in and out in 15 mins... most of which was them redoing the wrap and toasting it.

Boring 15 min video with zero edits.

Dude loaded it up with cilantro.. Omg this is delicious.

https://youtu.be/NfoJQRmR1vk



If I didn't ask for it toasted, and he didn't mess it up (not complaining at all), I'm guessing less than 5 minutes... from time in to time out.

Are you on your timed lunch hour, or something?

I guess I don’t quite understand the rush and to try beat the previous fast time…

The title of this film is "Technoweenie slowly poisons himself".

It's the concept of the store. No lines. No cashiers. I was trying to see how fast they could be for the average Joe.

Gotcha