Amazon VP of Physical Retail Departs

Cameron Janes left his position as Amazon VP of physical retail Tuesday (Nov. 23), according to his LinkedIn profile.

Before leaving Amazon, Janes oversaw its brick-and-mortar division, highlighted by the retail giant’s plans to open department store-style locations in California and Ohio in the near future.

“After 14+ years today is my last day at Amazon,” Janes wrote in his LinkedIn post on Tuesday. “The experiences and opportunities Amazon has provided me have been nothing short of life-changing.” Amazon confirmed Janes’ departure.

In his time with the company, Janes oversaw teams for the Prime Video streaming service, the Kindle e-reader and the now-defunct Fire phone. He also helped to roll out Amazon’s brick-and-mortar bookstores before taking on management of most of the company’s physical retail offerings.

Janes oversaw day-to-day operations of Amazon’s cashierless Go stores and the Just Walk Out technology inside them, which the company uses in its Fresh supermarkets and at some Whole Foods locations. Amazon also sells the cashierless technology to third-party retailers.

Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice president of physical retail and technology, developed and launched Amazon’s Go stores and cashierless technology. He also oversees Amazon’s experimental grocery technology, including the Dash smart cart and palm-print scanners.

Wei Gao, who was Amazon’s vice president of grocery tech, product and supply chain, left the company for London-based online events start-up Hopin in August.

Related: Amazon Sheds Little Light on Store Plans, but is Committed to ‘Omnichannel Experience’

Amazon’s largest brick-and-mortar presence is through Whole Foods Market’s almost 500 locations. It also has 4-Star stores that feature top items from its marketplace and bookstores and branded grocery locations.

Dave Fildes, Amazon’s director of investor relations, wouldn’t talk about the company’s brick-and-mortar future, saying on a recent conference call that the company wants shoppers to be able to get what they need either online or in a physical store.

Amazon’s physical stores revenue, mainly including Whole Foods, increased more than 11% year-over-year in the second quarter, according to proprietary PYMNTS data, the company’s first year-over-year increase since early 2020. About $4 billion of Amazon’s gross sales in Q2 came from physical stores.