The first Amazon Books store, in Seattle, Washington
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Subsidiary | |
Industry | Retail |
Founded | November 2, 2015 |
Number of locations
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4 |
Products | Books, Amazon Echo, Amazon Kindle, Kindle Fire, Amazon Fire TV |
Owner | Amazon.com |
Website | www |
Amazon Books is a chain of retail bookstores owned by online retailer Amazon.com. The first store opened on November 2, 2015, in Seattle, Washington. As of 2017[update], Amazon Books has a total of four stores, with plans to expand to six more locations.
The first location in Seattle has approximately 5,000 titles stocked on its bookshelves, using shelf space to display the covers of books facing outwards instead of spines; according to Amazon, the decision was made to showcase the authors and their work, rather than efficient use of space. The shelves display positive reviews and star-ratings from the Amazon.com website and prices are matched to online equivalents.
The store also sells Amazon electronics, including the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, the Kindle Fire tablet series, the Amazon Echo, and the Amazon Fire TV.
The first Amazon Books store, located at the University Village shopping center in Seattle, Washington, opened on November 2, 2015. 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, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon planned to open as many as 400 bookstores, according to a statement from the CEO of General Growth Properties, a firm that manages over 100 shopping malls in the United States, made during an earnings call; the statement was retracted by the company the following day.