Amazon is closing 87 US pop-up electronics stores next month

Amazon.com Inc. is ending its experiment with electronics-focused pop-up stores, shuttering 87 kiosks located inside shopping malls, Whole Foods Market locations and Kohl’s stores around the U.S.

“After much review, we came to the decision to discontinue our pop-up kiosk program,” an Amazon spokeswoman said.

The closings are expected to be completed by the end of April, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Wednesday, saying it wasn’t immediately clear if any Amazon pop-ups outside the U.S. would be affected.

On a conference call with analysts on Tuesday, Kohl’s, which says it hosted 30 Amazon kiosks in its retail stores, said it would wind down those store-within-a-store locations. Michelle Gass, the retailer’s chief executive officer, said Kohl’s had decided to stock Amazon-built electronics instead.

The closings come as Amazon’s portfolio of traditional physical retail stores grows. The company two years ago acquired Whole Foods Market and the organic grocer’s more than 460 locations. The Journal reported last week that Amazon planned to open new grocery stores under a new brand, distinct from Whole Foods.

The company also operates bookstores, cashierless Amazon Go-branded convenience stores and a new franchise that stocks a potpourri of items with positive reviews on Amazon’s online retail site, called Amazon 4-star.

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