Gallery: Amazon Tries Another Mall Concept

Amazon is quietly testing a new physical retail concept in which it merchandises rotating curated themed collections.Dubbed Presented by Amazon, the concept is live in four premier, high-trafficked malls across the U.S.: Century City Mall in Los Angeles, Westfield San Francisco Centre Mall in San Francisco, Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas and Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, IL.P2PI visited the Westfield Old Orchard outdoor mall location last month, where Presented by Amazon is housed in a glass enclosed shop dubbed The Cube and located near Macy’s.An employee told P2PI that the location opened late last year and has since been themed for Walt Disney Co., Under Armour, Mattel’s Barbie and Marvel — the last one ongoing at the time of P2PI’s visit.“That is new retail, it’s this concept that something can exist in a moment in time to capture a trend,” Molly Schonthal, vice president of strategy and innovation at Boston-based provider of e-commerce content management solutions Salsify, told P2PI. "These Amazon pop-up stores are exactly emblematic of what’s happening now which is a flow-through from digital to physical and back again, creating moments that matter.”Below are a few highlights from the store visit:The Cube contained several groups of fixtures merchandising toys, books and other licensed items. Shoppers were able to purchase most SKUs on the spot, though some items such as T-shirts had to be purchased on amazon.com.As in the GH Lab curated showroom Amazon opened at the Mall of America for the last holiday season, online purchases are facilitated by SmileCodes that are displayed throughout the store and items are shipped directly to shoppers’ homes.A few table displays stocked additional merchandise, while stands on both sides of the entryway displayed a Mighty Captain Marvel adult throw blanket with sleeves. An Avengers folding soft storage bench also was displayed on the floor. At-shelf customer reviews were also displayed for some items.Signage throughout the store, including some digital screens, depicted Marvel characters. Some of the signs included a #MarvelPopUp hashtag associated with the themed collection, as did a backdrop where shoppers could take photos with two prop weapons: Captain America’s shield and Thor’s Stormbreaker. Westfield Old Orchard has promoted some of the available themes via social media posts. View the full gallery from P2PI's visit at right.Amazon also had been operating 87 mall-based kiosks before pulling the plug on that concept in April. That format was a showcase for Amazon’s own electronic devices such as the Echo, Kindle and Fire TV. The company said it would instead focus on expanding Amazon Books (currently at 18 locations) and Amazon 4-Star (three locations) formats, which provide a broader selection.Amazon also continues to open more of its Amazon Go stores, most recently adding a thirteenth location in New York City.

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