Amazon opens its first brick-and-mortar bookstore

SEATTLE — Online retail giant Amazon has opened its first brick-and-mortar retail bookstore two decades after it began selling books over the Internet.

The company says the Seattle store will be a physical extension of its website, combining the benefits of online and traditional book shopping.

Prices at the store will be the same as books sold online.

The Seattle-based company did not explain the move in a statement announcing the opening of the store, and Amazon did not immediately return a call seeking those details.

Amazon says it will sell books that are selected based on customer ratings, sales and other factors. Shoppers on Tuesday found displays of books with cards containing ratings and reviews.

The store is located in an upscale outdoor shopping center in north Seattle that is also home to Apple and Microsoft stores.