Amazon's partly automated retail store, Amazon Go, debuted with a location in Seattle in January, but a new report suggests that expansion plans are already underway. "Multiple people familiar with the company’s plans" told Recode that Amazon could open as many as six new stores by the end of 2018.

Most of these stores would be in Seattle, but Amazon also reportedly wants to expand beyond its home turf by opening one store in Los Angeles. It has spoken with the developer of The Grove, a large shopping plaza in the heart of LA just minutes from Hollywood and Beverly Hills. It's essentially an upscale, outdoor shopping mall—which is a common structure in LA. Amazon has previously debuted services in LA first after trialing them in Seattle, such as its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service. LA will also be the first area to be served by a new shipping service planned by the company.

As for the Seattle stores, one source told Recode that Amazon had already identified three new locations last year.

Amazon Go is not competing with department stores like Target or with grocery stores like Ralph's, though Amazon now owns Whole Foods and has trialed its own brick and mortar grocery stores in the past. Rather, it's an automated convenience store, not to be confused with the widely criticized Bodega startup. The store stocks easy-prep meals, snacks, basic day-to-day supplies, and wine.

When you arrive at the store, you scan your phone, and the store's automated systems track what you grab with 100 cameras before automatically charging you the correct amount upon departure. Ars editor Sam Machkovech visited a store and tried to fool its systems when the first store opened to the public last month, but he was only sort of successful. These are some of the photos he took of the first store during his visit.

Sam Machkovech

























































































The store is not completely unmanned; a human is on hand to verify IDs for customers purchasing alcohol, for example. Recode's sources did not indicate when exactly the stores will open other than to say that Amazon plans to expand before the end of the year.