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Amazon plans to open a bookstore at Garden State Plaza in 2017. (Myles Ma | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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UPDATE: Amazon to create thousands more jobs in N.J.

PARAMUS -- After you beat 'em, join 'em.

Amazon has posed an existential threat to brick-and-mortar bookstores for years. But starting in 2015, the e-commerce giant began opening physical bookstores of its own, and is now bringing one to New Jersey.

Amazon plans to open a bookstore at Garden State Plaza in 2017, said Deborah Bass, a spokeswoman for the company.

Bass said the store is hiring workers, but declined to go into further specifics.

Garden State Plaza is one of five locations where Amazon plans to open brick-and-mortar bookstores. The other locations are in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Columbus Circle, Manhattan.

The selection in Amazon bookstores is determined on customer data, like ratings, pre-orders, sales and popularity on Goodreads--a book review website owned by Amazon. Every book is displayed with the Amazon customer rating and a review.

Amazon devices like the Echo, Kindle, Fire tablet and Fire TV will also be available.

Amazon is credited with crippling big bookstore chains like Borders--which had a store at Garden State Plaza before filing for bankruptcy in 2011. Amazon opened its first physical bookstore in November 2015 in Seattle.

The company may be responding to trends in physical book sales, which have increased steadily for four years, while e-book sales shrunk 13 percent in 2016, Business Insider reported. At the same time, independent booksellers in New Jersey say they are doing well despite competition from Amazon.

Amazon is definitely not abandoning web sales, however. It's buying up warehouse space in northern New Jersey to speed up delivery.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.