Amazon opened its first physical bookstore in 2015.
The store opened in Seattle, Washington, in November 2015, more than two decades after Amazon began as an online bookseller. Amazon Books used a physical format to display titles while also connecting shopping with information from Amazon’s website, including customer ratings and reviews.
The bookstore represented an important change in Amazon’s retail strategy. Rather than treating physical stores as a replacement for online commerce, the company used them as places where customers could examine products and experience Amazon’s services in person. The concept later expanded to additional locations.
Amazon Books is distinct from Amazon Go convenience stores and Amazon Fresh grocery stores. Those formats appeared later and focused on different retail experiences. Amazon subsequently announced the closure of its remaining physical bookstores in 2022, while continuing other physical retail experiments.