Amazon to close all of its physical bookstores and '4-star' shops
Amazon's bookstores were ... odd.<p>They helped me realize that what I value about going to a good independent bookstore is curation.  Not "highest rated" or "most popular" - but books I wouldn't get otherwise exposed to that an employee has selected to carry, and display.<p>That and local-interest connections to the place the bookshop is located.<p>Amazon's bookstores looked very much like a good independent bookstore (well, if you take away all the Ring Doorbells and stuff), but lacked that essential ingredient. Everything was just based on some "best seller" list for a specific category.<p>If I already know what I want, Amazon is a really easy place to get it.  If I'm casually browsing, both Amazon.com and Amazon's physical bookstores were really bad at helping me discover something new that I'm interested in.<p>I'm physically incapable of visiting a good independent bookstore without buying something.  Often far too much of something.  It's an expensive disorder I have. I think the last time I walked into Elliott Bay Books with no intention of buying anything, I walked out about $300 poorer.<p>I've probably stopped in to Amazon's bookstore at University Village in Seattle about a dozen times since it opened. I only ever bought something once.  A charging cable.