Amazon plans hundreds of physical bookstores: CNBC, citing DJ

A Tuesday earnings call from a mall operator included its CEO’s analysis on the kinds of brick-and-mortar stores the company expected to see in the marketplace, and it included a staggering guess for one upstart brick-and-mortar retailer: up to 400 Amazon Books locations.

Customer Jeff Edward, left, talks with Amazon employee Sarah Gelman as Edward shops 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.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the earnings call, during which General Growth Properties, Inc. Amazon already has a relatively tiny retail presence in a few U.S. malls, but only at kiosks selling Kindle devices and accessories.

Business Insider reached out to both General Growth and Amazon for comment.

According to CNBC, Amazon has promised that books and materials sold at the physical Amazon Books stores will not differ in price from their online counterparts. A GGP spokesman had “no immediate comment”.

That compares to the 640 stores Barnes & Noble Inc. operates and the 255 locations Books-A-Million Inc. said it had as of last summer.

The WSJ estimates that it would take years for Amazon to successfully buy or lease so many properties and get stores operating, but the initial rollout could begin more or less at any time.