Amazon’s March 2, 2022 announcement covered its Amazon Books bookstores, Amazon 4-Star shops and Pop Up stores—not every Amazon physical store. Publishers Weekly reported about 68 locations across those formats, including 24 bookstores. The news surprised some customers and former Amazon leaders, while at least one local bookseller celebrated the company’s exit from physical bookselling.
Which Amazon stores were closing?
The closure announcement covered three concepts: Amazon Books, Amazon 4-Star and Amazon Pop Up. Publishers Weekly reported about 68 locations across the formats, including 24 Amazon Books outlets. Reuters described the 68 locations as being in the United States and United Kingdom. Stores were expected to close on varying schedules, with local signage providing information to customers.
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The announcement did not say Amazon was abandoning physical retail altogether. The company said it would focus more on Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, Amazon Style and its Just Walk Out technology.
Why did reactions range from dismay to delight?
Some customers valued browsing in person
GeekWire described customers who were caught off guard, including people who valued browsing books with family or preferred to hold a print copy before buying. That hands-on experience was part of the appeal: a reader could scan shelves, compare titles and make a choice without relying only on a screen.
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Others saw Amazon’s exit as welcome news
The same reporting described a local bookseller raising both fists in delight at Amazon’s departure from physical bookselling. That reaction reflected one bookseller’s view, not a consensus among independent bookstores or readers.
The announcement surprised a former Amazon executive
John Rossman, a former Amazon executive, called the decision “the most surprising thing I’ve heard from Amazon in a long time,” according to GeekWire. His comment captured the unexpected nature of the move; it does not establish the company’s internal reasoning.
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What reason did Amazon give for the closures?
In a statement quoted by Publishers Weekly, Amazon said: “We’ve decided to close our Amazon 4-star, Books, and Pop Up stores, and focus more on our Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, and Amazon Style stores and our Just Walk Out technology.” The statement framed the decision as a shift in focus toward other retail formats and technology.
Amazon also said it was working with affected employees to help them find other roles within the company. Andy Jassy’s 2022 shareholder letter later said Amazon had stopped pursuing Bookstores and 4-Star after reviewing initiatives’ long-term potential to drive revenue, operating income, free cash flow and return on invested capital. That is the company’s stated investment framework, not an independently verified financial analysis of each store.
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What the sales figures do—and do not—show
Reuters reported that physical stores accounted for 3% of Amazon’s $137 billion in sales in the previous quarter. That figure refers to the broader physical-stores category, largely reflecting Whole Foods; it is not a measure of Amazon Books revenue and cannot establish how much the bookstores contributed.
The closure is evidence that Amazon chose to stop pursuing these particular store concepts. It does not, by itself, show that physical bookstores generally cannot succeed: Amazon’s stated shift included other physical retail businesses as well as technology.
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- No returns and no refunds on Gift Cards.
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- Amazon.com Gift Cards never expire and carry no fees.
- Multiple gift card designs and denominations to choose from.
- Redeemable towards millions of items store-wide at Amazon.com or certain affiliated websites.
- Available for immediate delivery. Gift cards sent by email can be scheduled up to a year in advance.
- No returns and no refunds on Gift Cards.
Sources
- GeekWire’s account of customer and bookseller reactions
- Publishers Weekly’s report on the announcement and store count
- Andy Jassy’s 2022 shareholder letter
- Reuters’ report on the closure scope and physical-stores sales figure
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