According to a claim made by Sandeep Mathrani, chief executive of the mall operator General Growth Properties, Amazon was rumored to open 300 to 400 brick and mortar bookstores. 24 hours later, however, he had taken it back.
It would appear that news of Amazon opening bookstores is so momentous that it doesn't even have to be proven true for publications - the likes of LA Times, no less - to be talking about it. An article yesterday (Feb. 3) said that even the idea of Amazon putting more brick and mortar bookstores was 'too irresistible to not contemplate.' And with competitive prices and deals, this is easy to comprehend. Amazon Prime, the subscription, is just $99/year after a free trial period.
This is not good news for brick and mortar booksellers. Amazon's hugely successful presence, even as an online business selling both physical and online books, has distressed bookstore chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders.
Amazon's first venture into the brick-and-mortar bookstore world was last year when it inaugurated a bookstore in Seattle at the University Village shopping mall. The store was already different from other book retailers: books were placed front cover facing readers instead of the traditional spine-first approach. Reportedly, they felt sorry for the spine out books, according to a quote from Jennifer Cast, Amazon Books Vice President. The books also did not feature prices because the company website keeps changing them, and the bookstore's prices were the same as those on the site. Instead, customers were to scan the book's prices using a mobile app.
Even if Amazon were thinking of opening bookstores, they would probably not be very open about it. Not only does the New York Times claim have they declined to comment on the rumors, but their Seattle bookstore opening was also very hush-hush. While they had been interviewing booksellers, the Seattle Times could not confirm that a store was to be launched. Contractors working on the site didn't know anything, and the city documents identified the new store as 'Ann Bookstore.'
The Seattle bookstore houses thousands of books, which is a tiny portion of what sells on the company's website. Most of the books are those given a customer rating of four stars and more. Despite being a 'book' store, Amazon Books in Seattle also sells other Amazon products like the Kindle tablet, Fire TV set-top device and Echo, the home speaker and virtual assistant.
Will Amazon have finally decided to venture into the offline world for real? Only time will tell.
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