Without a hint of irony, Amazon is now opening a real-life bookshop

Amazon is opening its first bookshop this week. Like an actual physical one. In real life.

AmazonBooks will open on Tuesday morning in Seattle's University Village in the US, stocked with thousands of titles.

The company, which launched 20 years as an online bookstore, has been accused by leading authors of abusing "its dominance in the world of books".

But now, after supposedly "impoverishing the book industry", the company will be venturing into a world so many others have left in recent years - including America's last major book chain Barnes & Noble... which had to close a large store in the very same mall where Amazon is opening its new branch.

The selection of books at the Seattle shop will be based on reviews and sales data from Amazon.com and prices will be exactly the same as online.

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