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A shot inside the new “Amazon 4-star” store in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Amazon’s newest brick-and-mortar concept stocks top sellers and new and trending products from Amazon.com. (Photo credit: Blog.AboutAmazon.com)
New York—Amazon is testing out another new brick-and-mortar concept—a store stocked with only its newest or most popular items.
The retailer announced via its blog this week that it has opened “Amazon 4-star” in New York, which sells products that have received a rating of four or five stars on Amazon.com, are top sellers, or are new and trending on the e-commerce site.
The retailer said the store is “a direct reflection of our customers—what they’re buying and what they’re loving.”
Amazon 4-star also has a section for “Most-Wished-For,” products, or the most frequently added to wish lists on the website; “Trending Around NYC,” items most frequently bought by New York City-area customers; a section of “Frequently Bought Together” items; and an area for “Amazon Exclusives.” 
In addition to giving the online retailer another customer touchpoint, the new store also aims to get as many customers signed up to Prime as possible. All products in the store are displayed with both the list price—which is what non-Prime members pay in the store—and the Prime price, the price the product sells for on Amazon.com with Prime membership. Amazon said any non-Prime members who want the lower Prime price can sign up for a 30-day trial in the store.
Amazon 4-star joins book stores and cashier-less grocery stores, as well as the Whole Foods chain in the once online-only retailer’s growing fleet of physical stores.
Its opening comes at a time when fresh concerns have arisen about the validity of reviews on Amazon.com, with the retailer publicly acknowledging that fighting fake reviews is a constant, ongoing battle.
Amazon 4-star is located at 72 Spring St. between Crosby and Lafayette streets in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. Hours are Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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