Mike Peterson
Amazon said it plans to shutter all of its physical bookstores, as well as pop-up shops and other brick-and-mortar retail locations in the U.S and U.K.
In total, Amazon will close 68 stores in the U.S. and U.K. The exact closure dates will vary by location and Amazon will notify customers of the dates via signage at the locations.
Amazon said it would help workers at the retail stores find other roles at the company. Workers who don't want to stay will be offered severance packages.
According to Reuters, which first reported the news, the closures will mark the end of one of Amazon's "longest-running retail experiments."
Since opening its first brick-and-mortar bookshop in 2015, Amazon has tried its hand at a variety of retail ventures, including cashier-less convenience stores and "4-star" stores that sell goods with high customer ratings on Amazon's online platform.
It always brought an online touch to the physical realm, however. Its retail locations, for example, pulled reviews from Amazon's online storefront and used sales data to determine what people were reading.
Despite the shuttering of 4-star, pop-up, and bookstore locations, Amazon isn't abandoning physical retail entirely.
Reuters reports that the company recently announced plans to open a brick-and-mortar fashion store that leverages algorithms to suggest to customers what they should try on. In February, Amazon also opened its first Whole Foods that let users check out without scanning items.
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19 Comments
Went into an Amazon store in Phoenix, AZ as a curiosity. i was not all that impressed.
It was sort of a Hail-Mary for the viability of retail on a broader scale. If they can't make it work I'm not sure who will. Obviously specialty stores (Apple) seem to be doing OK for a number of reasons (customers touching the tech) but general stores like what the Amazon store was are in bad shape. I went into the local Amazon store every time we were at the mall, which across the last 2 years wasn't much. But the stores were nice looking and staffed well. I think I bought a book or something there once or twice.
I've gone in to my local Amazon store a number of times - always just to return items I've bought online. The stores are packed full of people and those people seem to be buying, so I'm surprised they've decided to shutter them. Also surprising is that those people are actually buying. I found a book that looked interesting. it was $40. For Prime members it was lowered to $32. I scanned the barcode using my Amazon app and found I could have it delivered to my house for $20. $8 if I don't mind it used.
I guess people get wrapped up in impulse buys enough to spend that kind of money. Me? I'll buy the used copy for $8 and save a bundle... As for returns, fortunately there's a UPS store a few doors down from the Amazon store.
I’ve never seen one of the real physical Amazon stores. Just read about them. They don’t have a bookstore in my state. A “4 Star” store is supposedly “coming soon” about 20 or 25 min away. (Well, maybe not now).