Love it or hate it, you can't deny Amazon is handy. Need a last minute present? Amazon. Run out of pet food? Amazon. Want to invest in a blow up kayak? Believe it or not, Amazon.
What we also can't deny is, that for all its convenience, Amazon's one of the main targets for those who blame the decline of the high street on online shopping. But it looks like Amazon are acknowledging their unrivaled power, and the need for a healthy high street: the online shopping giant is going old school with bricks and mortar stores, selling everything from food and drink to electronics, beauty products and homewares.
Where will the first Amazon pop up shop be?
The first Clicks and Mortar shop will open in St Mary’s Gate in central Manchester on Monday (10 June) and will also have a number of Amazon Lockers for customers to collect Amazon (opens in new tab) orders. There are plans to have 10 shops in total, and although it has not been officially revealed where these will be, Amazon has said there will be openings in Wales, Scotland, the Midlands, Yorkshire and the South East.
The stores are part of a year-long pilot that has been launched in collaboration with the small business support organisation Enterprise Nation, and Amazon plan to use the stores to give over 100 online businesses a physical presence on the high street.
What will the Amazon pop up shops sell?
The pop-ups will stock products from 100 sellers who have until now been online-only, including Swifty Scooters (hurrah), the leather electronic device case seller Torro Cases and skincare brand Altr For Men. Not much more information has been given about what will actually be sold in these pop up stores but we imagine it will be plenty of small, independent, local brands who have not before benefited from an offline presence.
