This is definitely something we didn't see coming. After conquering the online market and coming up with innovative new drone-based delivery systems, it seems Amazon is now also going down the more traditional path by opening up 400 physical bookstores. The news was not made official by Amazon, but by the CEO of General Growth Properties, a US real estate investment trust.
Amazon dipped its toe into the waters of brick-and-mortar stores with the opening of a bookstore in its home city of Seattle in November. An expansion of bookstores, which the company has not confirmed, would be a surprise reversal from the online retailer credited with driving physical booksellers out of business.
"You've got Amazon opening brick-and-mortar bookstores and their goal is to open, as I understand, 300 to 400 bookstores," Sandeep Mathrani, chief executive of General Growth Properties Inc (GGP.N), said on Tuesday, responding to an analyst's question after it reported earnings.
