Instead of anxiously awaiting your next Amazon Prime shipment to hit your doorstep, you can now head to a brick and mortar Amazon storefront to pick up your packages, get your fix for books and more.
Amazon held the grand opening of its eighteenth Amazon Books store at Waterside in Marina Del Rey on Tuesday, October 23. The retail location is the Amazon shopping experience made flesh (er, brick and mortar) with shelves lined with books, recommendations for those books, Amazon-branded devices, a locker to have items shipped to and more.
The store is much like other Amazon Books stores, featuring new releases and best sellers and items with 4-star ratings and more, but each location is also curated to cater to the demographics of the area.
Books featuring hyper-local talent and authors from the LA area are featured as well as including items that cater to the LA market (#resistance related books, Dodger merch, etc.). The shopping experience will soon mirror its app in a way, with items in the store further being curated based on what people buy.
Customer reviews will appear below books, accompanied by digital price tags that update in real-time based on Amazon.com’s prices. Amazon Prime customers will get Prime prices while non-Prime customers can signup for a trial of the service with an associate.
In addition to books, the store features a demo station for Amazon devices (such as Santa Monica-based Ring products) with employees on hand to teach and troubleshoot. There’s also a locker storage feature, allowing customers to send items to the Marina Del Rey location for delivery. Additionally, returns can be made at this location, with or without a box.
Walter Smith, a Venice resident, was one of the first customers to experience the store’s grand opening. Inquisitive but not looking entirely comfortable, Smith conveyed his conflicting thoughts on the new store in town.
“It’s pretty cool, but I’m a little conflicted over the Amazon presence,” Smith said. “I hate to see local bookstores go out, it’s troubling. It’s weird that there is a brick and mortar store with an Amazon logo on it. But [the store] is really cool looking, very modern. I’m liking looking around and it’s good to see people talking and buying books. Like they did at bookstores. There’s an irony here and I can’t tell if it’s good or not.”
