Kindle being removed from Target shelves, website
Retail giant Target Corp. is planning to stop selling Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-book reader and other Kindle branded products once it runs out of stock.
The move comes come as Target plans to expand its offerings from Apple Inc. including the iPad and Barnes Noble's Nook.
The company "is phasing out Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said.
The company has been selling the Kindle at its stores since 2010, having been the first brick-and-mortar retailer to do so.
Target will continue to offer "a full assortment of e-readers and supporting accessories," Snyder said, declining to give a reason for the decision.
Kindles have already been removed from Target's website and staff at New York-area stores said they were not getting fresh stock.
Representatives for Apple and Amazon declined to comment.
"Target continually evaluates its product assortment to deliver the best quality and prices for our guests," Snyder said in an email Wednesday.
During the 2011 holiday shopping season, Target bragged about the vigorous sales of Kindles on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.
"This was a great Black Friday for Target and for Kindle Fire, which was the bestselling tablet in our stores on Black Friday," said Nik Nayar, Target's vice president merchandising, in a statement distributed by Amazon in late November.
Amazon said it sold more than 4 million Kindle devices in December, though it did not say how many were sold through Target.
The discount retail chain early this year asked some suppliers to renegotiate their agreements so that it could price best-selling products competitively with online-only retailers without cutting into Target's margins.
"I think there's no question this decision is about cutting ties with a competitor, Amazon, while improving ties with a 'cool and sexy' brand, Apple. It's a good decision," said Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at research and advisory firm Retail Systems Research LLC.
Source; US News.Net
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