Amazon Books

Products

The initial store in Seattle stocked approximately 5,000 titles, with books displayed cover-outward to showcase authors and their work, prioritizing this presentation over space efficiency. The shelves featured positive reviews and star ratings from the Amazon.com website, and prices were aligned with those available online.

The store also sold Amazon electronics, including the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, the Kindle Fire tablet series, the Amazon Echo, and the Amazon Fire TV. Two locations of Amazon Books had a cafe.

History

The first Amazon Books store opened on November 2, 2015, located at the University shopping center in Seattle, Washington. The store has been described as the first permanent store from Amazon, who opened pop-up shops and pickup outlets on several university campuses in 2015. In February 2016, tech news website Re/code reported that longtime Amazon executive Steve Kessel was leading the retail store initiative, having previously been part of the team to launch the first Amazon Kindle e-reader. During development of the project, it was referred to as "Project Anne" in filings with the city.

On February 2, 2016, a CEO of a shopping center owner claimed that Amazon planned to open as many as 400 bookstores; the statement was retracted by the company the following day.

Amazon Books' second store opened on September 7, 2016, in San Diego, California,. It was followed by openings at Washington Square near Portland, Oregon, Legacy Place in Dedham, Massachusetts, Chicago, New York City, and Paramus, New Jersey. Other stores in New York City, Bellevue, Washington, Atlanta, Georgia, Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles) were expected to open between 2017 and 2019.

In November 2016, Amazon Books began charging non-Amazon Prime members a separate price for books and other non-electronic products, while Amazon Prime members retained the online price-matched rate.

On March 2, 2022, it was reported that all Amazon Books would close. In addition to the bookstores, Amazon will close its 4-star and pop up stores on various dates in the future.

Reception

Local bookstores in the Seattle area described wariness over the physical presence of Amazon.com, with the University Book Store in the U District noting "different spending patterns" two months after the opening of Amazon's store; an Amazon spokesperson dismissed the notion that Amazon Books would interfere with independent bookstores and their operations, stating that "offline retail is a big space with room for lots of winners." The executive vice president of Half Price Books, a national chain of new and used bookstores, saw the interest that Amazon is showing in expanding brick-and-mortar bookstores as something good for the industry, stating in February 2016 that it was a sign that the "printed word isn't dead."

After the announcement of a third store in Portland, Oregon, CEO Miriam Sontz of local bookstore Powell's Books stated that Amazon's move to open physical stores was an acknowledgement that "something special occurs in a physical bookstore that is not replicable online" and that Portland was "filled with book lovers and book buyers", quoting bank robber Willie Sutton's quip that he targeted banks "because that's where the money is."

The New Yorker, covering the first New York City store opening at Columbus Circle, called it in a headline "Not Built for People Who Actually Read," continuing to say the store is "designed to further popularize, on Amazon, that which is already popular on Amazon." The store resembles its online marketplace, with signs such as "Most-Wished For on Amazon.com" and bestseller category rankings. Kyle Chayka described Amazon Books as "the opposite of independent bookstores" and that it was "driven wholly by the market and whatever provoked attention".

References

References

1. Dastin, Jeffrey. (March 2, 2022). "Amazon to shut bookstores, some other physical shops in turning point". Reuters.
2. Greene, Jay. (November 2, 2015). "Amazon opening its first real bookstore — at U-Village". [[The Seattle Times]].
3. McGreal, Chris. (November 5, 2015). "Amazon boldly goes where no internet bookseller has gone before: the real world". [[The Guardian]].
4. "Amazon Books". [[Amazon.com]].
5. Kastrenakes, Jacob. (November 2, 2015). "Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore today". [[The Verge]].
6. Stewart, Janine. (October 14, 2015). "Here's where Amazon's next brick-and-mortar store will be". [[Puget Sound Business Journal]].
7. Del Ray, Jason. (February 3, 2016). "Meet the Guy Behind Amazon's Secret Retail Store Plans". [[Re/code]].
8. Lerman, Rachel. (October 8, 2015). "U Village rumors fly that Amazon bookstore is coming". The Seattle Times.
9. Bensinger, Greg. (February 2, 2016). "Amazon Plans Hundreds of Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores, Mall CEO Says". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
10. Machkovech, Sam. (February 2, 2016). "Mall CEO claims Amazon Books will open up to 400 physical storefronts". [[Ars Technica]].
11. (February 2, 2016). "Amazon's novel idea: Physical bookstores". [[CNET]].
12. Weise, Elizabeth. (February 3, 2016). "Mall owner backtracks from Amazon bookstore statement". [[USA Today]].
13. Van Grove, Jennifer. (September 14, 2016). "Amazon Books opens in San Diego". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
14. Marum, Anna. (October 24, 2016). "Amazon's bookstore at Washington Square: Exclusive sneak peek". [[The Oregonian]].
15. Hilliard, John. (February 26, 2017). "Amazon gives customers a peek at its first Mass. bookstore". [[The Boston Globe]].
16. Zumbach, Lauren. (August 25, 2016). "Amazon plans to open a Chicago bookstore in Lakeview". [[Chicago Tribune]].
17. Gould, Jennifer. (July 3, 2016). "Amazon set to rival NYC's bookstores with Hudson Yards spot". [[New York Post]].
18. McMurtrie, John. (February 14, 2017). "Amazon to open bookstore in Bay Area". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
19. (March 13, 2018). "Amazon Books heading to Pacific Palisades as new village center takes shape".
20. Soper, Taylor. (November 1, 2016). "Amazon charges non-Prime members more at physical bookstores, hinting at new retail strategy". GeekWire.
21. Wong, Julia Carrie. (January 21, 2016). "Seattle bookstores face new threat from Amazon: a brick-and-mortar location". The Guardian.
22. Halkias, Maria. (February 3, 2016). "What Dallas-based Half Price Books has to say about Amazon opening bookstores: Print is alive". [[The Dallas Morning News]].
23. Cook, John. (June 17, 2016). "Amazon venturing onto Powell's home turf, picks Portland for third brick-and-mortar bookstore". GeekWire.
24. Tolentino, Jia. (May 30, 2017). "Amazon's Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores Are Not Built for People Who Actually Read".
25. (2024). "Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture". Penguin Random House.