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Amazon Closing All of Its 87 Pop-Up Stores As Its Retail Strategy Shifts (npr.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the change-of-heart dept.

Amazon is closing all 87 of its U.S. pop-up kiosks, which let customers try and buy gadgets such as smart speakers and tablets in malls, Kohl's department stores and Whole Foods groceries. It's the latest change in Amazon's brick-and-mortar retail strategy. NPR reports: "Across our Amazon network, we regularly evaluate our businesses to ensure we're making thoughtful decisions around how we can best serve our customers," an Amazon spokesperson said Thursday. Instead, the company is expanding Amazon Books and Amazon 4-star retail stores, the spokesperson said. Amazon 4-star stores, currently in New York City, Denver and Berkeley, Calif., sell various products, including consumer electronics, kitchen products and books that are rated 4 stars or above by customers on Amazon.com. The pop-up kiosks are expected to close by the end of April, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The news comes days after a Wall Street Journal report that Amazon plans to open dozens of grocery stores in several major U.S. cities. Those stores would be separate from the Whole Foods Market chain, which Amazon bought in 2017 in a $13.7 billion deal. The Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the report. Amazon said it launched Amazon pop-up stores in six European countries during the 2018 holiday season. It was unclear if those stores would be affected by the closings.

35 comments

  1. Have we seen Peak Amazon? by rmdingler · · Score: 2

    I didn't even realize these Pop-Up stores existed, so their extinction event is somewhat less than devastating for me.

    A bit of googling with rather middling skill appears to reveal this outcome is not extremely surprising:

    The pop-up store is a store that opens suddenly and usually exists for a short amount of time. Or; A temporary pop-up store often appears when retailers take advantage of empty retail space.

    The lack of success of the Whole Foods acquisition seems much more disturbing in Bezo's World.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If he were smart he'd just sell it all off and retire to private obscurity with his mixed-bag business reputation. He's all ego pissing in the wind trying to turn the wind back.

    2. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 0

      whole foods is called, around here (bay area) 'whole paycheck'.

      I never shop there. and there are not that many of them so its not like that are all local to you.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    3. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by rmdingler · · Score: 0

      whole foods is called, around here (bay area) 'whole paycheck'.

      Around here, we call the coffee franchise Fivebucks, and I've heard the Big Box hardware store referred to as the Home Cheapo.

      I don't go to the latter since they've automated the checkout process; i.e., made me their uncompensated checkout employee.

      I only go to the former to order regular coffee. It flummoxes the baristas for an uncomfortable moment, and it provides the the folks waiting for more exotic caffeinated drinks an opportunity to feel smug.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    4. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People who only care about having enough money for them and their family stop after the first $100 million, if not sooner. Bezos' efforts in the realms of surveillance and propaganda show much higher ambitions.

    5. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Self checkout is almost always faster (though admittedly possibly only because there are so many who think like you). Would you rather be an 'uncompensated employee' for 30 seconds and get on with your life or spend ten minutes standing in line while the 75-IQ down syndrome esl that Walmart only hired for the tax credit slowly scans 5 other people's shit?

    6. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly!

      But some of the very people you described still dream about Bezos and spam amazon affiliate links all over the Internet thus encouraging Bezos.

      Last year, I proved to creimer that I was running a click bot to inflate the views on his stupid channel and he admitted it! He has even written about it on twitter, go check and you will see.

      I specifically targeted music videos to make him believe that he had just discovered a new Klondike! It was very funny to watch him come on Slashdot bragging about how much his new music videos were successful before I finally told him about the click bot!

      Then, when the party was over, I proved to him that I was the one inflating his views, I told him in advance that I would stop the views on one specific video which I did and he confirmed that fact on twitter.

      Well, he just posted a imaginary story here where he pretends that pedophiles were looking at his kid music video. Maybe he figures that pedophiles are better click bait material. My bot isn't a pedophile! No pedophiles looked at his video at all!

      See his post here:
      https://medium.com/@cdreimerth...

      He is such a liar and a thief! He will say or do anything just to get 1 click on his stupid videos

      --
      -the bigest loser on Slashdot

    7. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Simply put Amazon is subject to state and local regulation in every state/city it has a store or distribution center.

      Amazon had huge advantage by being able to sell in all 50 states yet have facilities in only a few.

      Fair to point out that Amazon, Facebook and Google are all under the impending imposition of EU style privacy regulations in the USA not to mention the chance of anti-competitive regulation too.

    8. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Opportunist · · Score: 0

      You're doing it wrong. You have to put on a black turtleneck, black slacks and shoes, slick back your black-dyed hair and wear glasses with round lenses. Stand in line, then when it's your turn, step aside and tell them you still need some more time to feel the ambiance before you can order, and that they should take other orders first because you do not wish to be a burden to the world.

      Wait for your time, it comes when someone who takes himself super important starts rattling off his order, then you step in, declare that you have been here first and that it shall only take a moment of time and that the person should reflect upon the experience rather than rush through his life because it's the only one he has.

      Then you order a regular black coffee, just a simple, humble brew, with no milk to tarnish the pitch black color of the purest nectar, and of course without sugar because you wish to savour the bitterness of our time without the fake and artificial tarnish the lesser beings add in a vain attempt to pretend it ain't so.

      I mean, when you're going to give people a show, at least do it right.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    9. Re: Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That creimer guy takes a lot of crap in every single thread on this site. Must have really upset some of the younger guys who found out their tech skills were subpar.

      APK

    10. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate self checkout because I can't open the damned bags. I'll do it if I only have 1 or 2 items I can carry though.

    11. Re:Have we seen Peak Amazon? by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      "The lack of success of the Whole Foods acquisition seems much more disturbing in Bezo's World."

      Lack of success? Whole Foods' revenue was up 6% in 2018, versus 1.2% for the grocery industry as a whole.

      I'd love to have the kind of "lack of success" that is five times the growth of my industry.

    12. Re: Have we seen Peak Amazon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      APK, I have always wanted to ask you something.

      With all of the time you spend writing fantastic software, advocating good security and straightening out trolls and other online morons ... how often do you masturbate? Do you ever even find the time? You're a hero to many of us and I really want to know.

  2. But muh cheez by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Frum thuh tow.
    Uv yerrs.
    Wich eye likk.

  3. Did employees get 2 weeks notice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Thanks, bye now. Take a banana sure that's ok"

  4. God gave them over to depraved minds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion(operation of wandering)(planet) so that they will believe the lie.

    Mystery Red of the Great American Eclipse
    It has blood on it!
    ABCNews: Eclipse makes pendulum wander
    Losing my religion
    Sun researchers find strange eclipse reading

  5. They need to change the business model... by Patent+Lover · · Score: 4, Funny

    They should try something new like delivering products to people's homes.

    1. Re:They need to change the business model... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...perhaps using drones! ...or something innovative, like having the delivery person let themselves inside and leave it indoors.

  6. i like Amazon, but by mapkinase · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I like Amazon (shopping experience) and I like their original entertainment content, but their purchase of Whole Foods killed the store. Quality went down dramatically, especially the most sensitive part: fresh fruits and vegetables.

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    1. Re: i like Amazon, but by w1z7ard · · Score: 1

      What's your evidence of this? Very curious.

      --

      "Recursive bipartite matching"- try it!

    2. Re:i like Amazon, but by jetkust · · Score: 1

      I haven't noticed a single difference. Just them giving a slight discount for Prime members.

    3. Re:i like Amazon, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah it would be pretty surprising for there to be all that much difference that quickly.

    4. Re:i like Amazon, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      purchase of Whole Foods killed the store

      Not that I am super enthusiastic about Amazon buying out more companies, but food quality seams the same.

    5. Re:i like Amazon, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bonny complete retards shop at whole foods.

  7. Let me fix that ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    s/As Its Retail Strategy Shifts/As Its Retail Strategy FAILS/

    1. Re:Let me fix that ... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      That statement is inaccurate. It presumes that they have a retail strategy.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  8. Lots of unsustainable shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazon have the luxury of using revenue generated from AWS to try all kinds of dumb shit that will prove to be unsustainable long term. Amazon Fresh anyone?
    Of course they get to put a bunch of existing businesses out of business while they try, but that's the way it goes.

  9. Temporary problem by Vanyle · · Score: 1

    This is the problem with all these new companies. They drop things they start all the time without any form of commitment. My office uses google suite and have been left in the lurch because they have suddenly decided to end a service. Nothing builds confidence like uncertainty!

    1. Re:Temporary problem by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      This is the problem with all these new companies.

      Just the opposite: the more they fuck up and suffer the consequences, the less of a monopolistic threat they are to society.

      Let's encourage Bezos to experiment with his evil, all-consuming "baby." ;)

    2. Re:Temporary problem by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      I don't have the figures to hand, but I wonder how many of these it will need before Bezos has to sell one of his yachts.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  10. So long and thanks for all the fish. by quenda · · Score: 1

    First Tesla, now Amazon.

    What do Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos know that we don't? What do they have in common? Are they getting ready to leave?

    1. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What do Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos know that we don't? What do they have in common?"

      Maybe they are trying to suck as much value out of naive suckers before the whole thing comes crashing down.

    2. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      They don't know anything we don't. All they did was get lucky with their first business endeavors. It worked out for them. It didn't for the 99.9999% others who tried, failed, and you never heard about them.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Survivability bias

  11. State tax collection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ONLY reason for the "residence" of Amazon was to allow the states to legally collect state taxes. The smokey back room deal from the cabal of 2008-2016 has fallen apart because of competition pricing.