Having operated as a leading online retailer for two decades, Amazon is preparing to open its first ever bricks-and-mortar store in the heart of New York’s major shopping district.
The outlet will be located on Midtown Manhattan’s famed 34th Street, across from the Empire State Building and right up the street from Macy’s department store.
Rather than operating as a traditional retail store, however, the outlet will essentially be run like a mini-warehouse, The Wall Street Journal reported. This will allow customers to collect their online purchases, as well as exchange or return them if necessary. The store will also allow for same-day delivery within the New York area.
“Same-day delivery, ordering online and picking up in-store are ideas that are really catching on. Amazon needs to be at the centre of that,” Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer told the newspaper.
The size of Amazon’s new premises and the amount of stock it will be able to carry has yet to be revealed. It’s also unclear whether Amazon is, at this stage, considering opening similar stores in other parts of the US.
Last month, Amazon launched its Kindle Unlimited service in Ireland and the UK. Like a Spotify or Netflix for books, the all-you-can-read subscription service offers limitless access to 650,000 titles and thousands of audiobooks for a flat monthly fee.
Amazon image via Shutterstock
