The giant online retailer Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has decided to move to brick-and-mortar in the near future. A few years ago, there were rumors that the company wanted to open their first retail store in Seattle (where Amazon is headquartered). Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon has always wanted to operate a physical retail store, and it is finally happening.

The first store would be located in the heart of New York City, on the same street as Macy’s (NYSE: M) Flagship store in Herald Square. The Manhattan store is currently expected to operate as a warehouse for same day deliveries, pick-up, returns, and inventory. There is also a possibility for a showroom for Amazon Fire products.

Shortly after the announcement for the New York City store, Amazon was in the works to expand in the west coast in both San Francisco and Sacramento. Unlike the warehouse in New York City, the stores in California will be pop-up shops to showcase Amazon Fire products. The San Francisco store will be located in Westfield San Francisco Centre, and there is currently no information on where the Sacramento store will be located. These stores are expected to be open by the holiday season.

Why physical stores?

A large aspect of the showrooms is for marketing. Amazon Fire and Kindle products are currently sold online, and through retailers such as Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) which are displayed against products such as Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPads, Samsung’s Galaxy Tablets, and many more. With these physical retail stores, they are dedicated to promoting Amazon products. Some experts are saying this decision is extremely risky as the company has thin profit margins at the moment, and the addition of physical stores would add more to the expenses of the company.