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Amazon Closing All of Its 87 Pop-Up Stores As Its Retail Strategy Shifts (npr.org)
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.
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.
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
They should try something new like delivering products to people's homes.
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.