Finally an Amazon Bookstore is coming to the Bay Area.
The e-shopping giant that got started into books has opened three brick and mortar stores on the West Coast in the past two years and now it is opening a store in Walnut Creek.
A spokesperson for Amazon said that the store will be located at Broadway Plaza; it is an open-air shopping center.
Amazon did not mention, when the store will be open or how big it will be, but they said that the company is now hiring store managers and associates.
The opening of an Amazon book store in the Bay Area seemed inevitable, as already there are stores in Seattle, Portland and San Diego. The company said they will be opening soon in Chicago, two locations in Greater Boston, New Jersey and New York City.
Roughly 64,000 residents stay in Walnut Creek, it has only one independent bookstore, ‘Swan’s Fine Books’ which was opened back in 2013. In 2015 ‘A Barnes & Noble Bookstore’ was closed in Walnut Creek. The city was home to many books stores like ‘Pegasus Bookstore’ (it moved to Berkeley in 1996) and Books Inc. and Crown Books shops.
Swan’s Fine Books sell collectible books, from Californian to rare books in varying genres, and thus will not likely compete with Amazon. Amazon states on its website that the company’s bookstores, select books “based on Amazon.com customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, popularity on Good reads, and our curators’ assessments. ... Under each book is a review card with the Amazon.com customer rating and a review. Most have been rated four stars or above and many are award winners.”
The owner of the Swan’s Fine Books, Laurelle Swan said that she was not surprised by the Amazon’s move, “as there was a need in Walnut Creek for a place to buy new Books.”
Swan said that she so was sorry that an independent bookstore had not opened to fill the need of people in the city. Running an independent shop is very difficult in an area with high rents, she said. This is why Swan’s shop is off the beaten track, around the side of her building.
Swan hopes that the community continues to support the independent bookstores in the general area, such as Rakestraw Books in Danville and Berkshire Books in Concord. The owners of independent bookstores do this because they love books and love people who loves books, she said. The owners are willing to make an income that was next to nothing in order to serve their communities.
While Amazon has size and resources, but they will never hold the heart of their communities in their hands as owners of independent bookstores do, she said.
Bay Area McDonald’s Crab Sandwich
AMandeep
