Amazon's highly anticipated grocery stores are set to open this year and the food retail industry has its eyes on the e-commerce giant's new facility in Los Angeles, reports Bloomberg.

Located in a strip mall in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of LA, the retailer's new store - with a modern gray and black interior - was seen for the first time by journalists this Thursday. Photos show that the store is relatively conventional with some recognizable Amazon touches.

The 33,000 square foot store currently has empty shelves, awaiting the supermarket's stock, and a "Fresh Kitchen" area for shoppers to buy prepared food. Amazon said that its supermarkets will not be equipped with its cashier-less Amazon Go system.

Construction of the sight has been very hush-hush as it has been kept firmly within the company but with its newly released photos and planning documents, the grocery industry is eager to see what the new player has in store.

The company has said very little about the reveal of its new stores but has sought spaces across California and in parts of Seattle to open new stores - many of which are leased spaces or stores it has bought with the intention of re-purposing them.

Partner with a retail consulting firm Neil Stern told the publication that he doesn't think "they're going to reinvent how food is sold," and that "the plans look pretty stunningly conventional".

Plans show a staging area behind a window full of shelving, what could be for order pickups. The store will also have the key elements of a supermarket- including its meat and seafood counter.

Amazon's physical retail stores - a majority of sales being in Whole Foods, which it acquired in 2017 - was the only division to see a decline in sales in its fourth-quarter of 2019. The new stores are seen as a way for Amazon to provide its products that may be unpopular among Whole Foods customers but sell well in general - things like Tide detergent and Coca-Cola.

Amazon expanded its chain of Amazon Go stores, with 25 across the U.S. Additionally, the grocery industry is increasingly aware of the competition Amazon grocery poses as a recent report showed that online sales make it a contender- although not yet near close to leaders Walmart and Kroger.

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Photo source: Bloomberg