After four years at Stony Brook University, Amazon will permanently close its pickup locations at the Melville Library and the Health Sciences Center on Nov. 25, according to an official announcement from the Faculty Student Association (FSA).
Students on campus will still have the ability to order products from Amazon and have them delivered to their respective residence halls or homes, but they will not have access to the same-day pickup that the location provided for Prime members.
“Amazon has decided to change their business model and will no longer be providing services at Stony Brook University,” the FSA announcement reads.
The Amazon locker is scheduled to close in the middle of the holiday season, when Amazon is historically at its busiest. Amazon has experienced record profits from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, netting $5.2 billion in the second quarter and $6.3 billion in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, nearly matching the $11.6 billion net profit from the previous fiscal year.
Amazon Prime members can use the location to schedule free same-day pickup for their prime orders until their closing date. After the location closes, books rented from Amazon can be dropped off at a UPS drop box location, several of which are located on the university’s campus.
Amazon’s location in the basement of the Melville Library first opened four years ago, making history as the first Amazon pickup location in New York state. Amazon simultaneously became the university’s bookstore retailer before withdrawing their contract in Spring 2018.
Faris Furooth, campus associate at Melville Library’s Amazon location, said that he was told that the location was closing around the end of October.
“The location is closing mostly due to COVID; there just hasn’t been as much volume at the location,” Furooth said.
Furooth said that he and his fellow associates have been offered transfers to other Amazon locations.
The FSA said in their announcement that they are “actively looking for alternative services for the space that will enhance the campus life experience.”
Niki Nassiri contributed reporting.
