Amazon opens first brick- and-mortar bookstore

Twenty years after pioneering the virtual bookstore, Amazon Tuesday went brick-and-mortar.

The online giant, which led the bookselling industry's shift to the Internet, opened its first physical bookstore in its hometown of Seattle, Washington.

"These aren't metaphorical doors: these real, wooden doors are the entrance to our new store in Seattle's University Village," the company said on a web page for the shop.

The store, called Amazon Books, "is a physical extension of Amazon.com" which "integrates the benefits of offline and online book shopping," the company said.

"The books in our store are selected based on Amazon.com customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, popularity on Goodreads and our curators' assessments. These are fantastic books! Most have been rated four stars or above, and many are award-winners."