Amazon is opening a bookstore in the San Diego area—possibly La Jolla—as the company began posting multiple job listings online locally last week. Last fall, Amazon opened its first Amazon Books (above) at Seattle's University Village, an upscale open-air shopping center.
Rumor has it the online retail giant plans to launch a chain of up to 400 stores nationally, reports the San Diego Union Tribune. This rumor started with a conference call by General Growth Properties (GGP) CEO Sandeep Mathrani with investors. Judging by offerings at the Seattle store, the San Diego store would most likely carry titles popular with online customers and electronic devices, like Kindle and Kindle Fire.
While Amazon stores will fill retail space, a report by Civic Economics, sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, found Amazon’s move will not compensate for the more than 100M SF of empty space and 136,000 jobs lost since Amazon launched nearly 23 years ago. [SDUT]
