The online retailer that now delivers almost anything to your door within the hour, including booze—and that's arguably put hundreds of bookstores out of business—has applied for building permits for a brick-and-mortar store in Century City next year, according to a report from the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Amazon is hoping to bring a 5,227 square-foot Amazon Books to the Westfield Century City Mall, which is currently undergoing a $1 billion renovation (including celebrated spots like Eataly, super-popular Canadian retailer Aritzia and others).
The store will be the third location of Amazon Books; the first location opened in 2015 in Seattle, Washington, not far from the company's headquarters, and the second opened last year in Chicago, much to the chagrin of local bookstores. Amazon stocks its physical stores based on customer ratings, pre-orders and sales data derived from its online store, arranging books in displays that prominently feature customer ratings and reviews.
The store will also sell Amazon's full line of devices, including the Kindle, Echo, Fire TV and Fire Tablet. Pricing will be exactly the same as Amazon's online store, without any extra shipping costs—which we imagine will make it even harder for local booksellers to compete.
In a city that still boasts plenty of beloved local bookstores, a new big-box store run by Amazon is sure to cause some friction. Only time will tell if a redundant physical retail experience will prove to be as popular as the company's speedy Prime shipping.
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