The invitation was written by Amazon executive Colleen Aubrey. It was cancelled soon after being sent, stoking confusion among some employees.

Through its brick-and-mortar trials, Amazon realized its customers have a stronger brand affinity with Whole Foods Market than they do with Amazon Go or Amazon Fresh convenience stores. Fully closing these concepts allows the company to consolidate its brick-and-mortar strategy entirely around Whole Foods.

The company announced in a blog post on Wednesday that it is shutting down both its grocery and automated grab-and-go convenience stores, Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, marking the end of yet another failed experiment to crack brick-and-mortar retail.

Amazon is closing its Fresh grocery stores and Go convenience stores, the company said Tuesday. It will convert some stores to Whole Foods locations.

Amazon's top grocery executive Jason Buechel told staff that the company needs to make more "deliberate choices" to win over customers.

Federal regulators announced the recall of Yetonamr pull-string teething toys manufactured in China after 32 reported choking incidents, urging parents to immediately destroy products.