Amazon Retail Book Store Locations: New Shop To Open In Washington

Amazon has traditionally been an online retailer, but the company’s brick and mortar footprint will soon expand. It is working on its 10th retail store location, which is set to open later this year in Bellevue, Wash., according to Recode.

As with its other stores, the new Amazon store location will focus on selling books and other Amazon devices. The retail front joins Amazon’s other nine previously announced (and some open) stores.

Amazon Book Store Locations, Opening Dates

• San Diego (Open)
• Dedham, Mass. (Open)
• Portland, Ore. (Open)
• Seattle (Open)
• Walnut Creek, Calif. (Coming Soon)
• Chicago (Coming Soon)
• Lynnfield, Mass. (Coming Soon)
• Paramus, NJ (Coming Soon)
• New York City (Coming Soon)
• Bellevue, Wash. (Coming Soon)

Amazon’s local retailer business, which launched back in 2015, has initially seemed like a left turn for the company. From the inside and outside, the stores look like any bookstore chain like Barnes & Noble. Books are sorted in shelves based on category and tables in the aisles showcased various titles on sale.

But for the company, the benefits of having a regular physical presence in cities and other high-traffic areas for the Amazon brand outweighs any downsides. As with Amazon’s Seattle store, Amazon content and services are prominently featured in each retail front. Barcodes on each book shelf label allow you find out more information about titles and go to a book’s Amazon page. As WBUR notes, the book inventory for stores is also drawn from popular and highly rated titles from Goodreads and Amazon’s user shopping data.

In addition, the stores double as a way to get Amazon devices into the hands of potential buyers. Products like Kindles are showcased at the stores and users can try them out in person before buying them. The approach echoes similar retail pushes from companies like Apple, Microsoft and Barnes & Noble, which has regularly given store space to its Nook line of eReaders.