By Adam Blair
Target gave warning that it was fed up with "showrooming" in January, when a letter to its suppliers signed by CEO Gregg Steinhafel said the retailer was unwilling to "let online-only retailers use our brick-and-mortar stores as a showroom for their products and undercut our prices without making investments, as we do, to proudly display your brands." Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder confirmed that the retailer had sent the letter.
Now Target has taken action with its decision to stop selling Amazon's Kindle e-reader in its 1,770 stores and online. Target has carried the Kindle since 2010, and had even announced that it was the best-selling tablet in its stores on Black Friday 2011. The decision to stop selling Kindles came after an "ongoing review" of Target's merchandise that evaluates the quality and prices of its offerings, according to Snyder.
Target will continue to sell tablets such as Barnes & Noble's Nook and Apple's iPad. In fact, there's speculation that one of the reasons the retailer is tossing Kindles on the fire is its recent deal to open Apple mini-stores within Target locations.
Target is not the only brick-and-mortar retailer to boycott Amazon's products. In February, Canadian bookstore chain Indigo Books joined Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million in refusing to stock titles published by Amazon.
