Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has insisted the online giant will “definitely” open more stores as it plans an assault on bricks-and-mortar retailers.
The US etail giant opened its first ever physical store in Seattle last November, stocking 6,000 titles under the Amazon Books fascia.
According to Bezos, Amazon is already planning a second store in San Diego, but he did not elaborate on how many shops the etailer could open or what format they would take.
Speaking at Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting last night, Bezos said: “We’re definitely going to open additional stores.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, he added: “In these early days it’s all about learning, rather than trying to earn a lot of revenue.”
His comments indicate that Amazon’s bricks-and-mortar ambitions extend beyond a handful of stores.
Reports had suggested that the online titan was eyeing up to 400 bookshops across the US, after the boss of US shopping centre operator General Growth Properties, Sandeep Mathrani, claimed that number was “their goal”.
Amazon declined to comment on the reports, but the prospect of a move into physical space has already sent shockwaves through the UK market.
Waterstones boss James Daunt admitted it would be “significantly difficult for us if they were to open that number of shops in the UK”.
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