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Amazon will soon take up residence among the high-end shops of Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza. The online retailer will establish its first large permanent brick-and-mortar store in the Bay Area after previously setting up pop-up shops in San Francisco and offering a small store on UC Berkeley’s campus, according to the San Francisco Business Times. Amazon's latest strategy is creating synergy between its established online sales and new physical locations. The company just set up a pilot program for a drive-up grocery store in Seattle. Other brick-and-mortar Amazon stores are in Seattle, San Diego and Portland.
Amazon Books will become the second bookstore in the area after Swan’s Fine Books. Several bookstores have come and gone in the city, including Crown Books, Barnes & Noble, Books Inc., Pegasus Books and Bonanza Books, reports the East Bay Times. High rents have been pushing bookstores out of business throughout the Bay Area. Walnut Creek’s average rent ranges between $30/SF and $90/SF with Broadway Plaza rents ranging from $80/SF to $140/SF.
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