Amazon confirms second bookshop opening

Amazon is opening a second physical bookshop this summer, it has been confirmed, after new signage was spotted outside the shop’s future premises at open air shopping centre Westfield UTC in San Diego, California. 

The bookshop, named Amazon Books, opens in the same shopping centre where other e-commerce companies such as menswear retailer Bonobos and eyeglass company Warby Parker have also laid down physical roots. Amazon Books will sit adjacent to the Tesla store and across from the Apple store, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

An Amazon spokesperson, Sarah Gelman, said: “We are excited to be bringing Amazon Books to the University Town Center Mall in San Diego and we are currently hiring store managers and associates. Stay tuned for additional details down the road.”

The future store manager is tasked with "creating a vibrant store culture based on customer obsession, trust, respect, continuous learning and fun" with a goal "to provide best-in-class customer service to anyone visiting the store”, according to Amazon's job description for the role.

It adds: “You are Right a Lot when it comes to reading customers and don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach to creating a great customer experience. You warmly welcome anyone who comes into the store and are adept at quickly adapting to the needs of each customer. You are flexible, think on your feet, and exercise great judgment when unusual requests or the most difficult of customers are escalated to you.”

The "upscale, outdoor" shopping centre is said to match the style and retailers of University Village where Amazon opened its first store in November last year in Seattle. It opened with 5,000 best-reviewed books from Goodreads, from a 5,500 sq ft space, to be sold at the same prices as advertised on Amazon.com.

Earlier in February a mall operator said Amazon had plans to open "300 to 400 bookstores" across the US. Amazon declined to comment either way on the "rumours and speculation".