[Ads-l] The rise and predicted decline of "dark store"

[Dan Goncharoff]

Amazon continues to open new Whole Foods "dark stores", so it's demise may
not come as quick as you think.

On Mon, Sep 7, 2020, 11:51 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I recently heard the term "dark store" while watching a YouTube video.
> Here is a definition:
>
> Website: A blog from Cambridge Dictionary
> https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/07/09/new-words-9-july-2012/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> New words – 9 July 2012
> dark store noun
> a supermarket which stocks goods used exclusively for home delivery
>
> David Gray, retail analyst at Planet Retail, predicts more ‘dark
> stores’ – supermarkets where the public are banned as staff fill
> trolleys for thousands of online orders.
> [The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 13 Jan 2012]
> [End excerpt]
>
> Wikipedia already has an article for "dark store" which includes the
> claim that the term was in use by 2009, but "citation needed" has been
> attached to the claim.
>
> Wikipedia: dark store
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_store
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The term dark store first appeared in the UK in 2009 [citation needed]
> when Tesco opened their first such supermarkets in Croydon, Surrey,
> and Aylesford, Kent.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is a 2009 citation in an Irish newspaper. I do not know if "dark
> store" appears in the OED because my OED access is still blocked.
>
> Date: December 9, 2009
> Newspaper: Irish Independent
> Article: Tesco shares fall 1.8pc on back of limp Q3 volumes
> Author: John Mulligan
> Quote Page 26, Column 8
> Database: British Newspaper Archive
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Earlier this week, Tesco confirmed that it is planning to open more
> so-called "dark stores", which are laid out exactly the same as its
> regular UK stores, but which customers never visit. The stores are
> used exclusively by Tesco staff fulfilling customers' online orders.
> The company plans to open one a year in the UK for the foreseeable
> future.
> [End excerpt]
>
> The term "dark store" will probably disappear in the coming years. A
> "dark store" is a warehouse with a layout that is similar to a
> conventional store. Yet, modern efficient warehouses are being
> transformed via automation. For example, a roboticized Amazon
> warehouse looks nothing like a store. Within a decade "dark store"
> will be considered anachronistic.
>
> Amazon Warehouse is Run by Robots
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUx-ljgB-5Q
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org