Wow!! Check out the article below. Amazon has announced their first cinema ! The dominant leader in on-line experience(retail, streaming etc) is now moving more into “bricks and mortar”. With Amazon’s investment in content production it makes sense. Combined with Amazon’s growing investment in grocery and other retail concepts there is a clear message that bricks and mortar retail and in person experiene is not dead. Is it me, or was it only 3 years ago prior to and at the start of the pandemic that world was ending for bricks and mortar ??  So many people were predicting a rapid meltdown among the bricks and mortar retailers.  Prior to the pandemic on-line distributin of retail was running in the range of 12-15% of total retail sales, with rapid year over year increases.  In the first year of the pandemic it exploded to over 20%.  Yet for 2022 it has settled back into the 16-18% range.  On-line sales are an important, and growing part of our world.  Yet Amazon total on-line retail sales on a trailing 12 month basis are approximately, $470 Billion and represent 49% of all on-line sales.  For the 12 months ending October 31, 2022, Walmart alone produced $600 Billion in total sales, with $550 billion from brick and mortar.   The scale of bricks and mortar retailing still dwarfs on-line.   Many other retailers including Target, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, Dollar Tree and others barely paused their growth.  They are all opening stores at a rate equal to or above the levels in 2019.

On-line shopping will continue to grow and will be a critical part of the retailing landscape.  Yet, we as a culture and as human beings have confirmed that in person experiences are adaptable, resilient and very much alive.

 

Article per Bisnow (12/14/2022):

Amazon was already in the movie business, but now it has entered the movie theater business, too, opening a brick-and-mortar theater in Culver City.  Amazon reopened the former ArcLight Cinemas in Culver City’s downtown last week, CoStar reported. Amazon leased the theater earlier this year, CoStar previously reported. The former ArcLight is across the street from The Culver Studios, a film and TV production studio property where Amazon occupies more than 530K SF. 

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Amazon would spend $1B making films for theatrical release — a big move for the streaming media giant. Spending at that level would put it on par with established film powerhouses like Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Discovery, according to Bloomberg.  Amazon has been busy this year moving into the traditional movie business, closing an $8.5B deal to buy MGM and its library of more than 4,000 films, such as the Rocky and James Bond franchises.

It is unclear whether Amazon has plans to open more physical theaters. Amazon also opened its first clothing store this year in the Americana at Brand in Glendale.   Now called The Culver Theater, Amazon’s first movie theater seems much like any other theater, with traditional concessions and kiosks to purchase tickets. Theater employees wear uniforms with “Amazon Studios” emblazoned on them, according to CoStar.