Amazon Following Apple with Retail Store Concept?
Amazon may just be branching out. News reports are finding their way around the Internet that suggest Amazon is planning on opening retail stores, the first being a test location in Seattle that should be ready to open its brick and mortar doors in the next few months.
Seattle makes sense given that the company enjoys having their headquarters in the city known for embracing all things technological. The plans all reveal that the store will be boutique in nature, featuring an offering of books (of course) as well as their growing line of eReaders and tablets.
This move toward a more traditional storefront that exists in the offline world is an interesting move for the retailer that until now has existed entirely on the Internet. It may be that they want to realize some of the success Apple has seen, it may be that they find people want to put their hands on a Kindle before committing or it might just be that a certain demographic of people still want a destination store to arrive at and shop in.
It strikes me as a little strange that Amazon would invest serious capital into a bookstore at a time when paper copies of books and magazines are losing ground at a rapid pace. Makes me question whether Amazon may have plans to offer more devices and accessories moving forward –it would certainly make sense in that case to try and compete more directly with Apple and their successful retail business.
It is expected that the first Amazon storefront will be ready in time for the holiday shopping season, a date that also marks the first anniversary of the Kindle Fire –makes me wonder if there is also a second version of the successful tablet designed to be launched in tandem with the opening.