Amazon to open bookshop in NYC

Amazon is opening a new bookshop this year in New York City.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news this week revealing Amazon plans to open the 4,000 square foot bookshop in Manhattan’s Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle on the edge of Central Park in the spring. 

The reports were confirmed by Amazon spokeswoman Deborah Bass, who said the company was taking a space previously occupied by an Armani Exchange. It joins retailers in the Colombus Circle including J. Crew, Diesel and Microsoft.

Amazon opened its first bricks and mortar bookshop in University Village in Seattle, the city of Amazon's birth, in November 2015 to the alarm of many booksellers, with the m.d of Waterstones James Daunt saying he hoped the venture would "fall flat on its face".

After confirming its second store at open air shopping centre Westfield UTC in San Diego, California, which opened summer 2016, Amazon c.e.o. Jeff Bezos told shareholders at the company's a.g.m. in May 2016 it was "definitely" going to open additional stores "how many we don't know yet". Its third bookshop opened in Portland, in Washington Square Mall on the outskirts of the city. 

Several more stores "coming soon", according to Amazon Books' website, are in: Chicago, Illinois; Dedham, Massachusetts; Lynnfield, Massachusetts; and in New Jersey.

The physical shops display books face out and select stock based on its online data, garnered through Amazon.com customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, and popularity on Goodreads.