Amazon Could Open 1st Brick-and-mortar Store

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal , Amazon, the online retailing behemoth, will open a brick-and-mortar location in midtown Manhattan before the winter holidays. The location will accept customer returns, exchanges and product pickups, as well as possibly act as a showroom for Amazon’s products like the Kindle and Fire smaprtphone. The store would also act as a warehouse for inventory for same-day delivery.

The store, if it opens (previous rumors placed a store in the e-tailer's hometown of Seattle several years ago), would build on Amazon’s omni-channel strategy, in which retailers seamlessly integrate both digital and physical presences. Amazon would follow the lead of other online-only retailers like Bonobos, Rent The Runway, Birchbox and BaubleBar, all of which have opened physical locations to sell products. If the store is a success, it could lead to locations in other cities, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Amazon currently operates several pickup lockers in metropolitan areas to facilitate quick fulfillment of orders and recently added six new distribution centers and 15 sortation centers. 

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