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Amazon to Acquire Abandoned Toys R Us Business Storefronts!

Just this week, most Americans grieved when Toys R Us announced their business closure after serving the country for many decades. The millennials took on Twitter to express their disappointment and mourned for its impending closure. However, that isn’t the case with Amazon. It seems Toys R Us’s loss is Amazon’s gain as they hope to acquire all of its locations across the country.

Expansion of Brick and Mortar Stores

Despite its flagship online retail store business model, Amazon also aims to penetrate the brick and mortar industry as it plans to establish its physical shops. The company wants to compete with giant shopping centers like Walmart and Target. Hence, Jeff Bezos and his team envisioned to create the first convenience store in the country through Amazon Go. This program eliminates the hassle of lining in a long queue while you pay for your items on the cashier.

The moment you enter the store, you can log in to the app and the shop uses a face recognition technology to determine the buyer’s account. Once you pulled out the product from the shelves, it adds on to your cart automatically. The app also subtracts your invoice the moment you put the products back on the shelves. You only need to click the payment button, and you can exit the brick and mortar store easily. You don’t have to worry that someone will accuse you of stealing due to its cashless payment feature! How cool is that?

Amazon debuted its first cashless retail store in Seattle last January 22, 2018

Amazon tested the convenience-style shop in December 2016 with its employees as subjects. Together, they tried the shop’s flagship features to assess whether its machine learning, face recognition, and sensors, performed as expected. Although the first testing experienced some bugs and mishap, Amazon addressed the issues quickly. They followed their timeline as expected, enabling them to debut their first store early this year. At that time, Amazon didn’t disclose any information yet on whether they plan to expand more Go locations across the country, until now.

Toys R Us Filed Bankruptcy and Business Closure Last Week

Toys R Us closed down its business after operating for more than 65 years

Just in time, Toys R Us announced the closure of its 800 stores across the United States and UK after filing a bankruptcy due to an astounding $5 billion long-term debt. They used the said funding to reopen their flagship store in New York Square last December 2017.

The company hoped back then that thousands of tourists would flock to the store and buy their products. However, it didn’t happen, and the company didn’t recover its profit after the Holiday Season. This prompted the company to close all of its branches due to business restructuring. Toys R Us also stated that they would sell their branch locations to the interested investors.

Amazon To Buy Toys R Us Storefronts

Coincidentally, Amazon expressed their interest to acquire the former company’s business and strategic locations. They’re inviting all of those business owners, and franchisers to contact them should they decide to sell their storefronts. Jeff Bezos also promised to offer a just compensation for their commercial properties.

The New Era of Brick and Mortar Store

Amazon Go provides “Just Walk Out Shopping” feature on its cashless stores

Most Americans may have grieved over the loss of their favorite toy store, but it’s not the end of the world yet. If anything, this opens up a new chapter in the brick and mortar store era. With Amazon taking over Toys R Us storefronts, we expect to see an upgrade of cashless shops which provide convenience for shoppers.

The customers now have vast options either to shop online or to a brick and mortar store to shop for their favorite products easily. In the end, the Americans can now anticipate the rise of digital stores.

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