International Business Times has some pretty pictures:
http://www.ibtimes.com/amazons-first...ellers-2168484
And some choice person-on-the street quotes from patrons of a Seattle indie bookstore.
Seems Amazon is going to lose customers for lack of a wine bar.
Oh, and in case anybody was wondering: pricing is the same as online...at the instant of checkout.
Prices aren't posted anywhere near the book but they do feature a bar code so customers can use their phones to price check at Amazon.com and get to the book's page.
And, of course, no article about Amazonwould be complete without the obligatory "there is no way they can be making a profit" dig.
Quote:
The pricing structure makes it clear that the bookstore’s purpose is not to generate revenue, since Amazon’s online prices don't support the traditional overhead costs of running a brick-and-mortar store.
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That may be a reach.
There's no telling what Amazon's costs are because, since they don't do returns, they get much better terms from publishers on pbooks. (Fun, huh? The same publishers whining about Amazon domination give them preferential terms on pbooks.) And since the store is fed from the nearby fullfilment center and doesn't need to rely on distributors or an inhouse book distribution system there just might be enough volume x margin to make money off B&M.
I suspect that is the real purpose of the store: to test the business model for profitability.