From The Chicago Tribune:
Amazon is opening an offline bookstore in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
“We are excited to be bringing Amazon Books to Southport in Chicago,” Amazon spokeswoman Deborah Bass said in an email Thursday.
Bass said the store, targeted to open next year, will be at 3443 N. Southport Ave., the former location of the now-closed Mystic Celt bar and restaurant.
. . . .
Amazon plans to mix the benefits of online and offline book shopping, with a selection chosen based on customer ratings, pre-order and sales figures, and its employees’ assessments. Customers can wander the aisles and page through a title before buying, but books face the customer, accompanied by reviews from Amazon shoppers, as they would be online. Customers can buy in-store or place an order for delivery. Amazon devices, such as the Kindle e-book reader and Fire Tablet, are also available for in-store testing.
. . . .
“I think a big part of the bookstore is building awareness of Amazon and bringing more of a human face to the brand,” said Neil Stern, senior partner at Chicago-based McMillanDoolittle. “Forty-one million of us and counting are Prime members, but you can spend a lot of money and never interact with a human. It’s a way to personalize it.”
Link to the rest at The Chicago Tribune
PG says the new store will be a short walk from Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs and the location of many a pleasant afternoon during PG’s younger days.
The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, an amazing feat. Unfortunately, the Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. They have not played in a World Series since 1945.
As all educated persons know, the Cubs’ World Series drought is due to the The Billygoat Curse.
The curse began in 1945 when Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis was thrown out of game 4 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley gave the order because the strong odor of Sianis’ pet goat, which accompanied Billy to the game, was bothering other fans.
Sianis, a Greek immigrant, was deeply offended. For his revenge against Wrigley, he uttered the fateful words, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more,” which has been interpreted to mean that there would never be another World Series game won at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs immediately lost that fateful game and Detroit won the series.
Sam Sianis, nephew of Billy Sianis, has been brought out to Wrigley Field with a goat multiple times in attempts to break the curse. In 2008, a Greek Orthodox priest sought to end the curse during the 2008 playoffs with a spraying of holy water in and around the Cubs dugout to no avail.
PG predicts the nearby Amazon store will, at long last, lift the curse. When the Cubs finally win the World Series, grateful Cubs fans will erect a statue of Jeff Bezos outside Wrigley Field, right next to the statue of Mr. Cub, Hall of Fame first baseman Ernie Banks.
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