If it's Wednesday night, you'll find me at the Village at Meridian for my running group. 

My teammates from Team Run Boise and I head out to Fleet Feet for their weekly "Village on the Run" group run every Wednesday at 6 p.m.  The group meets at Fleet Feet and then we all walk over to Kleiner Park for a 30-40 minute run or walk at our own paces before hitting one of the Village hot spots for dinner. The last few weeks, we've ran into a series of fences and blockades keeping us off the sidewalk near the old Paperie + Pen location and one time home of the Robert Comstock Store. All of us have been dying to know moving into the vacant space.  It looks like there's been some activity inside, but there's no signs up anywhere to give us any hints!

Amazon Opens First Brick-And-Mortar Bookstore In Seattle
Stephen Brashear, Getty Images
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Well, yesterday we were one step closer to finding out what it could be.  The Village at Meridian isn't ready to make any official statements, but our friend Don at BoiseDev was able to dig up a permit and plans for a brick and mortar Amazon Books. If the permits and plans move forward, the Village location would join the 13 fully operational Amazon Books and five planned ones.

When it comes to the company that brought us the wildly entertaining, occasionally helpful Alexa via their Echo and Echo Dot devices, it's no surprise that this wouldn't be your typical bookstore.  According to BoiseDev, the books in the Amazon Stores all face forward and you won't find a price tag on them. If you want to know more about the book or magazine, you'll have to open your Amazon app or grab a scanner to get the price.  Using those devices will also show you reviews from Amazon users who've purchased the item and how many stars it has on the website.

Amazon Opens First Brick-And-Mortar Bookstore In Seattle
Stephen Brashear, Getty Images
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Even cooler? Using data from their online shoppers, the brick and mortar Amazon Books location can pick which items they want to offer based on what's been popular in the Treasure Valley. Oh, and prices in the store are the same as what you'd pay on the website, so if you're not a Prime user and you want to save on shipping this is your way to take advantage of Amazon's often lower pricing!

I'm a sucker for bookstores and was really bummed when the Hastings that was basically in my backyard went out of business.  If this Amazon Books location does pan out, I'm excited to spend some quiet time working there and discovering new things to read while I'm at the Village for my running group!

Want to know more about the store? Don did a killer job digging up some photos of other Amazon Books locations and has way more info on BoiseDev. 

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