Amazon Is Planning to Open Hundreds of Bookstores, Mall CEO Says

Customers browse aisles at the opening day for Amazon Books, the first brick-and-mortar retail store for online retail giant Amazon, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Amazon is planning to open up to 400 physical bookstores in the future, a mall CEO revealed in an earnings call this week.

The Seattle-based company opened its first bookstore last year.

“You’ve got Amazon opening brick-and-mortar bookstores and their goal is to open, as I understand, 300 to 400,” Sandeep Mathrani, chief executive of mall operator General Growth Properties Inc., said on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It wasn’t clear where Mathrani got the figure, and spokesmen for his company and Amazon declined to comment.

A customer carries a handful of books at the opening day for Amazon Books, the first brick-and-mortar retail store for online retail giant Amazon on Nov. 3, 2015, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

The Journal said that it would take years to open so many stores, as lots of work would need to be done including picking locations, reaching leasing deals, and hiring staff.

Amazon’s first store opened in November 2015, in an outdoor mall in Seattle.

Along with around 5,000 books, the store sells Amazon’s Kindle and Fire devices.

The company said it stocks the location using data it collects from its websites.