AMAZON
Amazon clothing stores to close on these dates: timeline and locations
The physical locations for all Amazon Style stores are closing this week just one year after they opened in apparent failure.
Amazon is worth nearly $1.47 trillion, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make any mistakes.
One wing of the vast company, Amazon Style, is to be closed down this week. These two stores in the US opened in 2022, the companies first attempt at breaking to offline clothes shopping.
“After careful consideration, we’ve decided to close our two Amazon Style physical retail stores and focus on our online fashion shopping experience, where we’re offering new, exciting selection[s] at great value and introducing innovative technology to meet the needs of every customer,” Amazon spokesperson Kristen Kish said in a statement.
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The closing represents a failure for Amazon. However, it also marks a pivot toward its grocery chains like Fresh and Whole Foods, the former of which has had two stores recently resdesigned in Chicago.
Further expansion of other in-person stores has been paused as the company wrangles with a changing consumer landscape amidst high inflation as well as rising costs of borrowing money.
The information on the closing stores
There are only two Amazon Style stores. Both will be closing on 9 November:
- Easton Town Center: Columbus, Ohio
- The Americana at Brand: Los Angeles, California
Amazon’s history of brick-and-mortar stores
In November 2015, Amazon opened its first physical bookstore, Amazon Books, in Seattle. A year later, the company introduced its cashier-less convenience store concept called Amazon Go, which allowed customers to be automatically charged on their Amazon account without cashiers.
Amazon’s most significant moves in the brick-and-mortar space was its acquisition of Whole Foods Market in August 2017. This acquisition gave Amazon a foothold in the grocery retail industry and allowed it to integrate its online retail and delivery services with the physical stores of Whole Foods. There are over 500 stores in the US
“Physical retail remains an important part of our business, and we’re continuing to invest in growing our grocery stores business, which spans Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, and third-party partnerships,” Kish’s statement continued.