Amazon goes for brick and mortar – takes on main street firms on their own turf!
Amazon.com Inc. plans to open a store in the middle of New York City, according to people familiar with the plans, the first brick-and-mortar outlet in its 20-year history and an experiment to provide the type of face-to-face experience found at traditional retailers.
The site, set to open in time for the holiday-shopping season on the same busy street as Macy’s Inc.’s flagship store, would mark an attempt by Amazon to connect with customers in the physical world. For its first physical store, Amazon has picked a bustling Manhattan block awash in the constant flow of office workers, shoppers and tourists headed to the Empire State Building across the street.
Located at 7 W. 34th St., the building is about a block east of Herald Square, where Macy’s M +0.04% flagship store anchors a shopping corridor and ranks as a tourist destination in its own right. Nearby are other big retailers: Victoria’s Secret, the Gap and J.C. Penney.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
