Amazon Books
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (bookstores) |
| Founded | 2 November 2015 in Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Defunct | 2 March 2022 |
| Fate | Closed all locations |
| Headquarters | Seattle , United States |
| Products | Books, Amazon electronic devices (Kindle e-reader, Kindle Fire tablets, Amazon Echo, Amazon Fire TV) |
| Owner | Amazon |
Amazon Books was a retail bookstore chain owned by the e-commerce giant Amazon. Its inaugural store launched on November 2, 2015, in Seattle, Washington. On March 2, 2022, announcements indicated that all Amazon Books locations would be closed at various future dates.
Products
The initial Seattle outlet featured roughly 5,000 book titles, with shelves arranged to present book covers facing outward rather than the traditional spine display. Amazon explained that this layout aimed to highlight the authors and their works instead of maximizing shelf capacity. Additionally, shelves showcased favorable customer reviews and star ratings sourced from Amazon's online platform, while pricing was aligned with those found on the website.
Besides books, the stores offered a selection of Amazon’s electronic devices such as the Amazon Kindle e-reader, the Kindle Fire tablet lineup, the Amazon Echo, and the Amazon Fire TV. Two of the Amazon Books locations also included a cafe for customers.
History
The inaugural Amazon Books location launched on November 2, 2015, at the University Village shopping center in Seattle, Washington. This establishment marked Amazon's first permanent retail bookstore, following earlier temporary pop-up shops and pickup points set up on several university campuses throughout 2015. In February 2016, the technology news outlet Re/code revealed that Steve Kessel, a veteran Amazon executive who had been instrumental in developing the original Amazon Kindle e-reader, was overseeing the physical retail store initiative. During its planning stages, the project was internally referred to as "Project Anne" in city documents.
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On February 2, 2016, a shopping center CEO announced that Amazon intended to establish up to 400 bookstore locations; however, this claim was withdrawn by Amazon the following day.
The second Amazon Books store opened its doors on September 7, 2016, in San Diego, California. Subsequent openings included locations at Washington Square near Portland, Oregon; Legacy Place in Dedham, Massachusetts; Chicago; New York City; and Paramus, New Jersey. Additional stores were anticipated to debut between 2017 and 2019 in cities such as New York City, Bellevue (Washington), Atlanta (Georgia), and Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles).
Starting in November 2016, Amazon Books introduced a pricing policy where customers without an Amazon Prime membership were charged higher prices for books and other non-electronic merchandise compared to Prime members, who continued to receive prices matched to those found online.
Reports on March 2, 2022, indicated that all Amazon Books outlets would be shuttered. Alongside these bookstores, Amazon also planned to close its 4-star stores and various pop-up shop locations over forthcoming dates.
Reception
Independent bookstores in the Seattle region expressed concerns regarding Amazon.com's entry into physical retail, with the University Book Store located in the U District observing altered consumer purchasing behaviors within two months following Amazon's store launch. However, an Amazon representative rejected claims that Amazon Books would negatively impact independent booksellers, emphasizing that "offline retail is a large market with space for multiple successful participants." The executive vice president of Half Price Books, a nationwide chain specializing in both new and used titles, viewed Amazon’s expansion into brick-and-mortar outlets positively. In February 2016, he remarked that this development signaled that the "printed word remains vibrant."
Following the announcement of a third Amazon Books location in Portland, Oregon, Miriam Sontz, CEO of local establishment Powell's Books, interpreted Amazon’s move as recognition that "a unique experience occurs in physical bookstores that cannot be duplicated online." She also highlighted Portland’s reputation as a city "teeming with avid readers and book purchasers," referencing bank robber Willie Sutton’s famous explanation for targeting banks: "because that's where the money is."
The New Yorker reviewed the debut of Amazon’s New York City store at Columbus Circle with a headline stating it was "Not Built for People Who Actually Read." The article elaborated that the store’s design aims to amplify on Amazon’s platform what is already popular there. Mirroring its digital counterpart, the store features signage like "Most-Wished For on Amazon.com" alongside bestseller rankings. Critic Kyle Chayka characterized Amazon Books as fundamentally "the opposite of independent bookstores," driven entirely by market trends and factors that attract attention.
References
External links
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