Amazon having an actual, physical bookstore seems contradictory to their original business idea of the online bookstore, but the Amazon bookstore located in the southwest corner of University Village is a new spin on the classic idea of a bookstore. The first thing one notices when walking in the door is the profound amount of Amazon gadgets displayed in the center of the store. While the number of books still heavily outweighs the amount of gizmos, it’s very apparent that electronics are a focal point of the store, and all of the products are Amazon branded and rather interesting to say the least. Another separating characteristic is the arrangement of the books on the shelves.
Instead of the classic spine-out look, the Amazon bookstore makes the covers of the books face out to the customers. This is something that gave the location a slightly different feel, but it still seemed to be preferable to many. It allowed for the search through hundreds of book titles to be more navigable. The similarities shared with the classic bookstore is that it of course, carries books of all kinds. The shelves were no different then that of a normal bookstore, and the customer service was knowledgeable and polite as to be expected. A major difference was the amount of people in the store, which was much larger than most vendors are able to pull in. Overall, the Amazon bookstore is a clear success, and if you love literature of any kind, a visit is definitely recommended.
Featured Photo. The store has set up shop in U-Village, a shopping hub for many North Seattleites. Photo by Allison Bullard
