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Bezos confirms more brick-and-mortar Amazon stores
Amazon is building more brick-and-mortar stores and beefing up Prime membership perks, company CEO Jeff Bezos has confirmed at the company's annual meeting for shareholders. At the moment, the mostly online-based retailer has a single bookstore in Seattle, but it's already building a new outlet near San Diego. "We're definitely going to open additional stores," he said, "how many we don't know yet." It's unclear if the new location is going to be another bookstore or if it will be selling other items, as well. If you'll recall, reports came out earlier this year that the company could open other types of retail outlets.
NYT: Amazon plans to open more brick-and-mortar bookstores
Amazon's physical bookstore in Seattle might not be its first and last. According to The New York Times, the e-retailer is planning to open more brick-and-mortar bookstores in the future. Sandeep Mathrani, the chief executive of a mall operator, claimed during an earnings call (and before NYT published its scoop) that Amazon is looking to open as many as 400 outlets. That would put the company in direct competition with chains like Barnes & Noble that operates over 600 stores. NYT's source said, however, that the online retailer's plans are much more modest than that.
Amazon opens first physical bookstore in Seattle
It may feel odd associating Amazon with a brick-and-mortar store, but you'll get used to it. The online marketplace will open its first physical outlet at University Village, an open-air shopping center in Seattle, on Tuesday. It won't be selling everything under the sun like its website, though: it's a true-blue bookstore -- though it will carry Kindle e-readers -- just like the thousands of bookstores that shuttered in the past due to the rise in e-book sales. One difference is that most goods inside Amazon Books will be displayed face-out instead of stacked with their spines in view. Also, the company will take advantage of the data it's collected for the past two decades to stock books that have the potential to sell.
