••• “Amazon expects to reduce headcount and change inventory to lower prices and make Whole Foods competitive with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other big-box retailers, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s grocery plans. That included potentially using technology to eliminate cashiers.” Ugh. “Amazon is considering extending the cost-cutting effort with the no-checkout technology it’s developing at its Seattle convenience store, ‘AmazonGo,’ according to the person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the plans are private. The technology lets people pay with smartphones without seeing a cashier or going to a checkout kiosk, which would help Amazon differentiate itself in the brick-and-mortar setting and reduce labor costs at Whole Foods stores. The employees remaining would help improve the shopping experience, the person said.” —Bloomberg

••• The Broadsheet checked out the National Archives office on the second floor of the U.S. Custom House at Bowling Green: ” A visitor [pored] through a treasure trove of annals, chronicles and documents. In just a few hours, she had found more than a dozen entries—including census records, World War I and II draft cards, and immigration records—of her grandparents and great-grandparents. This opportunity is among of the gems that the National Archives offers. Anyone can come in and use the computers, which have access to ancestry.com (no registration or login required) and many other archival search databases. All of this is completely free; all a visitor need do is sign in at the front desk.”

••• “Michelin-starred chef of Sushi Azabu, Tasuku Murakami has been hired by Major Food Group to helm the kitchen at the Brasserie on the lower level of the former Four Seasons space—the third restaurant of the multi-faceted endeavor [….] Murakami will man a Japanese restaurant on track to open in October, to be called The Lobster Club.” —Eater

••• “Police have arrested a man who they say committed two armed robberies in the Financial District last month.” —Tribeca Trib