The famed Amazon.com has a storefront in Washington. But what used to be a real storefront in Chevy Chase popped up unexpectedly on Amazon’s online site Tuesday.
The website shows the store, originally housed on Wisconsin Avenue between Connecticut and Wisconsin Avenues, as the “Amazon Bookstore.”
The facade of the Wisconsin Avenue bookstore features Amazon’s blue logo. But the entire basement of the store shows the brand new banner that is now perched on the front door. A sign reads: “Dear current employees of Amazon.com,” and was highlighted by GeekWire Tuesday.
The old one featured the Amazon logo and the words “Opening Soon,” but had “Daimler Chrysler-Chrysler” and “Wachovia” logos.
The store itself used to be a gleaming new space within the Whitney, Lexington and National buildings of Chevy Chase, about 10 minutes away from downtown D.C. A cached version of a flier advertising the store contained a link to its “secret” Facebook page.
An employee who spoke with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity confirmed the bookstore moved to be closer to Amazon.com’s main office. A customer service representative also confirmed the location is now in the new workplace.
“With the new offices it was clear the space was not going to fit in,” the employee said.
A native of New York, the employee said he had never worked at a bookstore in New York, but was excited to try his hand at it.
“I wanted to go to the store, see where we were, see how different we were from Amazon.com,” he said.
Greg Hartt, vice president for Amazon Books, said that having the bookstore move out of the Whitney, Lexington and National building and into a more spacious space where all employees can gather is one of his favorite decisions.
“We are really excited to be growing as a team,” he said. “A great retail location and a great suburban location will really help.”
The talent acquisition, which is being managed by Amazon book marketing, is part of a newly launched business unit called “Amazon Bookstore” that includes 50 employees. Hartt said the bookstores are regularly updated with new products and an inventory of bestsellers by the author.
“It’s an opportunity to really build the book business at Amazon,” he said.
To read more about the recent changes in the building, visit GeekWire.