Netflix and Facebook follow Amazon’s lead and build stores
Many online giants are following Amazon’s lead and opening storefronts after the company opened a brick-and-mortar bookstore in Seattle on Nov. 2.
The most notable company to follow Amazon’s lead is Netflix. Earlier this week, Netflix’s CEO, Reed Hastings, announced in a press conference, that the company will be unveiling its first ever store in Ottawa.
When pressed on why the company has chosen Ottawa of all places, the press conference turned quiet as the CEO spoke almost inaudibly, with a hint of remorse in his voice. “We feel that we have wronged the Canadian people in the past with limited access to content, and what better way to right this wrong than to establish the first Netflix store in Canada’s capital city?”
Canadians can now visit the Netflix store to watch movies that aren’t available from the streaming site online. “The store will feature a place where people can ‘chill’ and watch movies and TV shows with minimal buffering,” said Netflix’s public relations office Rod Maloney.
“This is such a new idea, providing videos from a central location, that we can’t find anywhere else that provides this service,” said Maloney. Despite this good news, there are no indications from Netflix about expanding the online selections of movies and TV shows for Canadians.
Aside from these historic moves by Amazon and Netflix, Facebook has also leaped into the future by opening its first store in Nanjing, China. Facebook is currently banned in the People’s Republic of China, but CEO, Mark Zuckerberg conceived the idea of opening a store instead.
Facebook will offer foldable, mobile and fiber glass walls that people can draw on, for purchase in the store. People can now carry these walls around, sit on benches and showcase their emotions, share pictures, and funny and inspiring quotations.
Strangers passing by can now “like” these statuses by purchasing the iconic white and blue “thumbs-up” stickers at the stores.
“I feel that Facebook has been an iconic method of expression for the modern world, and I thought that these (walls) could provide outlets for our fellow global citizens whose governments have censored Facebook.
It is my dream to make the world a better place by making it more connected to each other,” said Zuckerberg.
Internet-based companies are truly becoming more advanced as they make the leap from behind your computer screens to behind storefront windows.
