KALAMAZOO, MI — There’s no register inside a new store in downtown Kalamazoo.

Tap your card, choose your items and “just walk out.” The sensors and cameras hanging overhead will figure out how to charge you.

The store is named RIO, short for Regionally Inspired Offerings. It has long offered a selection of snacks, drinks, travel toiletries and local memorabilia.

It reopened inside the Radisson Plaza Hotel, 100 E. Michigan Ave., on Dec. 9, 2025, as an Amazon Just Walk Out store, Manager Adam Tennis said.

Before entering, shoppers scan their credit card or digital wallet at a kiosk near the entrance. This will place a $10 hold on the card, Tennis said.

Once inside, customers can browse freely, pick items up and put them back. All the while, a network of sensors in the shelves and on the ceiling track what’s in their cart.

The tech can’t keep track of multiple “shopping carts” at the same time, Tennis said. Groups that enter the store together will be billed on one card upon walking out.

Just Walk Out technology does not collect biometric data, like a shopper’s face or fingerprints, according to Amazon’s website.

The self-serve convenience store is open around the clock.

Should issues arise, Tennis said staff at the Radisson’s 24-hour front desk are trained to handle refunds in person or remotely.

The store runs on Amazon’s technology, but it’s not an Amazon-run store, Tennis said.

“Amazon is just the vessel that allows us to build stuff as we go,” he said.

Shoppers do not need an account to use it, he said. The store’s offerings include Western Michigan University merch, Kalamazoo Candle Co. scents and custom Kalamazoo-themed water bottles, among other items.

“Implementing local businesses within the hotel and supporting them is a big part of what (Greenleaf) wants to do going forward,” Tennis said.

Radisson owner Greenleaf Hospitality is building a $515 million arena just blocks away. RIO serves as a pilot for what shopping could look like inside the event center, which is expected to open in 2027, per a company press release.

RIO is starting with a small selection, Tennis said, but offerings are expected to grow as staff becomes more familiar with the system.

So far, his team has encountered fewer challenges than they expected, he said. “People take to it pretty quickly.”

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