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Amazon's first bookstore

November 3, 2015

Twenty years after Amazon sold its first book online, the Internet retail giant has opened a physical bookstore in Seattle, the company's hometown. A few shelves were reserved for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' favorite titles.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Gz9p
USA Buchladen von Amazon in Seattle
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/The Seattle Times/E. Schultz

Amazon, the company that pioneered online bookselling - and became a target of ire over the demise of many mom-and-pop bookstores throughout the US - opened a flagship store in Seattle, Washington on Tuesday.

The new location is in Seattle's University Village, a shopping center where a Barnes & Noble bookstore - the largest bookselling chain in the US - once stood.

The new store is called Amazon Books. On Tuesday, shelves were filled with best-sellers, books that received the highest ratings from Amazon's online customers and lesser-known titles.

"The books in our store are selected based on Amazon.com customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, popularity on Goodreads and our curators' assessments," Amazon said on a web page for the shop.

USA Buchladen von Amazon in Seattle
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/The Seattle Times/E. Schultz

Amazon said prices will be identical online and at the bookstore. It also encouraged customers to use its mobile application to read reviews and get more information about items.

tko/cjc (AFP, dpa)

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