Amazon Gets a Little Less Physical

Out of curiosity, I visited the first physical Amazon Books store, at Seattle’s University Village shopping center, shortly before Thanksgiving Day in 2015. That was not long after its doors had opened. The experience was, well, rather peculiar: almost all of the books were placed face-out on shelves, suggesting the stock level was fairly minimal, for how else could there have been sufficient room for that sort of display? Reportedly, titles were chosen for sale based on their having won four- or five-star reviews on Amazon.com.

Pleased enough with that experiment, Amazon soon opened another 23 brick-and-mortar outlets across the United States, making Amazon Books “one of the largest bookstore chains in the country.”

But that’s all now history. Publishers Weekly says the e-commerce giant has announced “it is closing all of its physical bookstores, as well as its 4-star and pop-up stores, which carry a mix of items, including some books. All told, Amazon will close about 68 stores, including its 24 bookstores.” Going forward, explains CNN, Amazon intends to “‘focus more’ on other physical retail efforts, including its dedicated stores for groceries, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods, as well as its recently launched apparel shop, Amazon Style. It will also continue to focus on Amazon Go, its cashierless grocery store concept.”

Closing dates for the two dozen Amazon Books outlets will vary, depending on location. The company has declined to specify how many jobs will be lost because of this change in focus.