Amazon to Open 2nd Clothing Store in Ohio

Amazon is reportedly planning to open a second brick-and-mortar clothing store, this time in Columbus, Ohio.

According to multiple news reports this week, the retail giant is scheduled to open its new Amazon Style location at Easton Town Center.

So far, details are limited about the size of the store or when it will open, but Columbus Business First reported that the company expects to hire hundreds of full-time and part-time workers for the store, including customer service, checkout and management positions.

The news comes three weeks after Amazon launched its first store in Glendale, California, where shoppers can find what to wear with the help of machine learning.

Read more: Amazon Opens 1st Brick-and-Mortar Clothing Store in LA

The store also lets consumers who use the Amazon app try out their selections in-store, with the app notifying them when fitting rooms become available.

“Amazon Style is designed to help customers discover looks they’ll love through a personalized and convenient shopping experience using advanced technology and world-class operations,” the company said in a news release May 25.

Also in May, Amazon launched a pilot program that involves its drivers retrieving packages from stores at malls to deliver to customers’ homes.

See more: Retailers Rush to Rethink Stores Amid Shift to Digital, Experiential Shopping

The program — based in malls in Nevada, Virginia and Arizona — lets consumers who want same-day or faster shipping search for products that are available locally. After shoppers order the product from the retailer via Amazon, an Amazon driver delivers it.

The company’s shift to brick-and-mortar retail comes at a time when merchants are increasingly trying to meld digital and in-store shopping, a move that took off during the pandemic, according to Andre Machicao, senior vice president of merchant solutions at Cybersource, a Visa solution.

“As consumers are returning to the in-store environment with that expanded set of [digital] experiences, use cases and digital community, we are seeing expectations of digital even more now in physical stores,” he told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster.