It doesn’t make a lot of sense that the dominant player in the online book sales sphere would suddenly up and open hundreds of physical bookstores.

But, those are the rumours going around about Amazon today. Supposedly, Amazon is set to open up hundreds of new bookstores across the United States.

Why This Makes Sense

Not only did Amazon open up a bookstore in Seattle to test the company’s brick and mortar skills, but Amazon has also closed most other bookstore chains in the U.S. The company is well known for putting real life bookstores out of business, and now Amazon wants to open up stores of its own. It makes a sick kind of business sense to get rid of all competitors in order to clear the way for Amazon’s own stores - and this could very well be what Amazon has planned for a while now.

If that sounds a bit conspiracy theory, think about the situation that Amazon is walking into as well. People that used to shop at bookstores might currently be hard pressed to find one. Since the dawn of online bookstores like Amazon, other brick and mortar options have gone by the wayside. Now that Amazon is coming back into the picture with some new stores (possibly) people might very well flock to see what the company offers - or just flock to the stores with excitement that there are actual bookstores in existence still.

Not Alone

Even though it might seem odd that Amazon is moving into the physical store space, this is far from the first online company to open up an actual shop. Online eyeglass store Warby Parker opened up a physical store last year, and many others are following suit. Consumers want to have the option to see products in a store and then, possibly, buy online. But when it comes to books Amazon has had a long and somewhat checkered past with publishers.

Some might call Amazon the anti-publisher company. Then again, it’s hard to think of another company with as much available content as Amazon. When it comes to book titles that will be for sale, Amazon can pretty much get anything big or small. Does this mean that we will see some self published titles in Amazon’s bookstores? Maybe. You may be able to publish a book on Amazon, and that book might just show up on one of the company’s store shelves.

Amazon’s Comment

Amazon (like other tech companies) won’t comment on the current rumours. This is nothing new, since Amazon never comments on rumours. If the company is going to open up some stores, though, it would make sense that you’ll see some Amazon stores pop up within the year, or possibly at the start of next year. Typically, when rumours like these fly around, it means that a company is on the move - and that seems to be exactly what Amazon is doing.

Whether or not a world filled with solely Amazon bookstores (or so it seems) is a great thing remains to be seen. What is for certain is that the company has already opened up on bookstore, and there are rumours flying right now that Amazon will be opening up some future bookstores. Whether or not this is true or how many stores Amazon might open, it will be interesting to see how the company moves forward.