Amazon.com Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to close all 68 of its brick-and-mortar bookstores, pop-ups and shops carrying toys and home goods in the United States and United Kingdom, ending some of its longest-running retail experiments.
The news marks a turning point for a company that began as an online bookseller and helped drive established rivals such as Borders to bankruptcy. Amazon said it would focus more on its grocery markets and a department store concept going forward.
After opening its first book shop in Seattle in 2015, Amazon has tried out an array of ideas in retail: convenience stores without cashiers, supermarkets, and a format called “4-star” in which it sells toys, household items and other goods with high customer ratings.
Amazon had aimed to reach shoppers in more places and bring its online touch into the real world. Its bookstores would pull from its vast data trove and showcase what people were reading, even the reviews they left on Amazon’s website.
But the company’s innovations were not enough to counter the march toward online shopping that Amazon itself had set off. Its “physical stores” revenue — a mere 3 percent of Amazon’s $137 billion in sales last quarter, largely reflective of consumer spending at its Whole Foods subsidiary — has often failed to keep pace with growth in the retailer’s other businesses.
Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said Internet-savvy Amazon was right to forgo the niche market of brick-and-mortar book shoppers, as bad a match as electric car maker Tesla Inc. opening gas stations.
Pachter said Andy Jassy, Amazon’s new chief executive, likely made this call as he reviewed the retailer’s myriad businesses since taking the top job in July. “Retail is hard, and they’re discovering that,” he said.
The company’s vice president of physical retail, Cameron Janes, departed Amazon after 14 years in November, he said in a LinkedIn post. Now chief commercial officer at retailer REI, he did not immediately return a request for comment.
Amazon will close its 4-star, pop-up and bookstore locations on various dates and notify customers via signage. Workers will receive severance or can receive help finding jobs at any company stores nearby, such as more than a dozen Amazon Fresh grocery locations it has announced, the retailer said.
Amazon declined to specify how many jobs would be cut.
Amazon to shut its bookstores and other shops as its grocery chain expands
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Amazon to shut its bookstores and other shops as its grocery chain expands
Saudi Arabia merges National Competitiveness Center and Saudi Business Center
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has merged the National Competitiveness Center and the Saudi Business Center under a unified entity named the Saudi Competitiveness and Business Center to streamline business reforms.
The decision was announced during the Cabinet session held in Jeddah on Feb. 24 and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Majid Al-Kassabi, minister of commerce and chairman of the boards of both centers, praised the leadership’s continued support for the private sector, saying the merger will enhance Saudi Arabia’s competitiveness and elevate its ranking in relevant international indicators and reports.
He said the decision will enhance the Kingdom’s competitiveness and elevate its ranking in relevant indicators and reports. It will also facilitate procedures for starting and conducting economic businesses and provide all related services and work by adopting the best international methods and practices.
Al-Kassabi said the Saudi Competitiveness and Business Center will continue delivering more than 6,000 government services to the business sector, in integration with relevant government entities, at the highest levels of quality and innovation. Services will be provided through the unified business platform and 20 branches across 15 cities.
He said the merger will unify channels for monitoring challenges facing the private sector and implement targeted reforms to facilitate business, adding that it will enhance the Kingdom’s global competitiveness and maximize the benefits of partnerships with local and international entities and organizations, especially in knowledge transfer and the exchange of expertise.
He said the center will work with the public and private sectors to place the Kingdom among the world’s most competitive countries and make its business environment a global model for the quality, smoothness and efficiency of government services directed to the business sector.
