Online giant Amazon, which has been the front-runner in the bookselling industry's shift to the Internet, opened a physical store in Seattle, the very town where the company made its start 15 years ago.
The new store, Amazon Books, is located in Seattle's University Village, an outdoor mall north of the University of Washington, according to USA Today.
"These aren't metaphorical doors: these real, wooden doors are the entrance to our new store in Seattle's University Village," said the company.
The opening puts to rest a month of speculation within Seattle's bookselling community on whether Amazon would open a physical store or not.
Amazon Books VP Jennifer Cast referred to the store as "a physical extension of Amazon.com," which "integrates the benefits of offline and online book shopping."
"The books in our store are selected based on Amazon.com customer ratings, preorders, sales, popularity on Goodreads and our curators' assessments. These are fantastic books! Most have been rated four stars or above, and many are award-winners," she continued.
Amazon said prices will be identical online and at the bookstore, and encourage customers to use its mobile app to read reviews and get more information about items, according to AFP.
"Amazon Books is a store without walls — there are thousands of books available in store and millions more available at Amazon.com," asserted Cast. "Walk out of the store with a book; lighten your load and buy it online."
The store won't be limited to just books either. It will also be selling Amazon-branded devices such as the Kindle, Echo, Fire TV and Fire Tablet, mirroring practices done in Apple and Microsoft Stores which also have stores nearby.
