Amazon To Close 5 Bay Area Stores

San Francisco CA

03 March, 2022

11:46 AM

Description

BAY AREA, CA — Amazon is closing down all of its in-person bookstores, 4-star shops and pop up locations in California and across the U.S. including five in the Bay Area. There's no word yet on when going-out-of-business sales will be held. The retail giant seeks to rework its brick-and-mortar presence. The move will affect 66 stores in the U.S. and at least 16 locations in the Golden State. The company said this week that it will pivot to focus on a convenience concept called Amazon Go and its upcoming Amazon Style stores. Amazon Style, which will sell clothing and accessories, is set to open its debut store in Southern California later this year. "We remain committed to building great, long-term physical retail experiences and technologies and we're working closely with our affected employees to help them find new roles within Amazon," the Seattle-based company said in a statement. It wasn't specified how many Amazon workers could be affected by the wide swath of closures. Amazon opened its first physical bookstore in 2015, two decades after it started selling books online, driving many long standing shops out of business. The company's 4-star shops made their debut in 2019 and carried a smaller selection of best selling products. The strategy of closing so many stores comes as a surprise for Neil Saunders, the managing director of GlobalData Retail. He believes it's an acknowledgement that the bookstores weren't delivering the returns the conglomerate had sought. The main issue with Amazon's non-food stores is that they lack a real purpose even though the the merchandise was well-presented, he said. "They were designed for people to pop in and browse rather than as destinations where people would head on a mission to buy something," he wrote in a note on Wednesday. He added that ultimately that wasn't good for driving customer traffic, especially in an era where people are visiting shops less. The other problem, Saunders said, is the assortment which, in many locations, was disjoined and unfocused. The news of the closure was first reported by Reuters. Amazon Bookstores closing in California: Cerritos - Los Cerritos CenterLos Angeles - Westfield Century CityMarina del Rey - Waterside at Marina del ReyPacific Palisades - Palisades VillageSan Diego - Westfield UTCSan Jose - Santana RowWalnut Creek - Broadway Plaza Amazon 4-Star stores closing in California: Berkeley - Fourth StreetBurlingame - Burlingame AveCanoga Park - Westfield TopangaCorte Madera - The Village at Corte MaderaGlendale- Americana at BrandLong Beach - 2nd & PCHLos Angeles - Sportsmen's Lodge Amazon Go stores closing in California: Glendale - Glendale GalleriaWest Hollywood - Melrose AveThe Associated Press contributed to this report.