亚马逊实体零售店传闻真假难辨

    有没有可能亚马逊（Amazon）今日股票下跌的部分原因、甚至大部分原因是因为一个关注电子阅读器的博客上一则未经证实的报道？这则报道称，该公司计划在西雅图开设一家试点零售商店。

    事实上，这篇报道说的可能就是实情，当然我们还无法确定这一点。不少大牌媒体转载了博客Good e-Reader上的这则报道。编辑麦克尔•克兹罗斯基在文中援引“熟悉情况的线人”透露的消息。亚马逊未对请求置评的消息做出回应。

    克兹罗斯基写道，具线人爆料（此处“线人”用了单数形式），亚马逊将“走精品店路线，只经营高利率的高端产品。”

    几年来，这类传言一直定期出现。去年12月，博客写手贾森•卡拉坎尼斯就转发了他从“一位极为可靠的线人”那里听来的“一条小道消息”，尽管当时这位线人称亚马逊计划开的是“像Costco那样的大型商店”。2009年，亚马逊曾经被迫发表声明，否认类似传言。

    特别是考虑到这类传言并不新鲜，亚马逊这次却三缄其口，大气不出，这样的反应似乎有些不妥。我们不过是在讨论亚马逊可能尝试开设自己品牌的商店。这种战略或许会像苹果（Apple）的商店一样取得成功，或许不会。假如失败的话，损失不会太大。而假如成功，亚马逊也不可能因此就开始在郊区大举买地，在巴诺（Barnes & Noble）、沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）以及Costco的地盘上与它们展开角逐。

    译者：项航

    Is it possible that Amazon's stock sank today partly -- or even mostly -- because of an unconfirmed report on a blog devoted to e-readers that the company plans to open a pilot retail store in Seattle?

    It is, in fact, possible, though of course we can't know for sure. A bunch of big media outlets picked up the report from the blog Good e-Reader. In it, editor Michael Kozlowski cited "sources close to the situation." Amazon (AMZN) hasn't responded to messages seeking comment.

    Kozlowski wrote that Amazon will "be going the boutique route and stocking the shelves with only high margin and high-end items," according to his "source," (singular this time.)

    Such rumors have floated periodically for a few years now. In December, blogger Jason Calacanis relayed a "piece of gossip" he heard from "a very credible source" along similar lines, though his rumor has it that the plan was for "big, Costco-like stores." In 2009, Amazon was forced to issue denials of similar rumors.

    Especially given that such rumors are far from new, the breathless reaction to the latest one seems misplaced. All we're talking about here is Amazon possibly testing the concept of an Amazon-branded store. It might work -- similar to how Apple's (AAPL) stores have worked -- or it might not. If not, it won't be a great loss. If so, it seems unlikely that Amazon will take it as a cue to go after Barnes & Noble (BKS), Wal-Mart (WMT), and Costco (COST) and start buying huge swaths of suburban real estate to compete with them on their own literal turf.