Retrenching: "Amazon to close eight Go convenience stores in cost-cutting move" and... (AMZN)

First up, CNBC, Mar 3 20233:26 PM EST:

• Amazon is closing eight Go convenience stores in Seattle, New York City and San Francisco.
• The company had previously announced it would shutter some Go stores and Fresh supermarkets as it reevaluates its brick-and-mortar strategy and aims to cut costs.

....MUCH MORE 

And speaking of bricks and mortar, or more accurately, steel and glass, from Seattle's own GeekWire, March 3:

Amazon pausing construction on second phase of HQ2 in the Washington D.C. area

Amazon is delaying construction on its biggest real estate project.

Bloomberg first reported Friday that Amazon will pause construction on its massive “HQ2” second headquarters project in the Washington D.C. area where it aims to hire 25,000 workers by 2030.

Later this year Amazon will start moving employees into Metropolitan Park, the first phase of the headquarters campus that will still be completed, Bloomberg reported.

But a larger PenPlace phase across the street, which includes a spiraling centerpiece called The Helix, is being put on hold.

“We’ve already hired more than 8,000 employees in HQ2 and we’re excited to welcome them to our new Met Park campus this June,” Amazon real estate chief John Schoettler said in a statement to GeekWire. “We’re always evaluating space plans to make sure they fit our business needs and to create a great experience for employees, and since Met Park will have space to accommodate more than 14,000 employees, we’ve decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace (the second phase of HQ2) out a bit.”....

....MUCH MORE

You may recall this story from last November:

"Black Friday surprise: Jeff Bezos tells people not to buy cars, refrigerators and other big-ticket items. Critics call him out"

There are three companies that come readily to mind as microcosms of the economy, Berkshire Hathaway, very U.S. - centric, and 3M and Amazon for a bit more of the rest of the world.

And when Bezos said "hold off on the big purchases" we took notice. 

Why?

As mentioned in January's ""Amazon to Plow Extra $35 Billion Into Virginia Data Centers in Cloud Race" (AMZN)":

Although he stepped down as CEO of Amazon, he is Executive Chairman which sounds like the same power with fewer headaches.

Meaning Mr. Bezos still has access to the almost infinite amount of data collected and collated by the different divisions of AMZN, a treasure that many CEO's would kill for.