Amazon opens second-ever 4-Star retail store in Berkeley

Amazon opens second-ever 4-Star retail store in BerkeleyPhoto: Brittany D./Yelp
Hoodline
Published on November 16, 2018

Online retail titan Amazon has opened the second of its brick-and-mortar Amazon 4-Star department stores at 1787 Fourth St. in Berkeley, following its first launch in New York City last month. It offers a selection of items in different categories that have earned at least a 4-star rating on its site.

On the shelves, customers will find highly rated and currently popular gadgets, toys, books and housewares, as well as items that are trending locally, according to Amazon's algorithms.

Unlike Amazon Go, another recent Amazon foray into the Bay Area retail scene which tracks the items customers take and automatically charges their Amazon accounts when they leave, the checkout process at 4-Star still involves scanning and paying.

With a 4.5-star rating out of four reviews on Yelp so far, the new addition has gotten a good response in its early days.

"It reminded me of a Target Express without the grocery section," wrote Yelepr Brittany D., who was the first to review the new shop. "The space is pretty small but they packed a lot into [it]. I was rather impressed by all the electronics."  

Darci K., a self-declared longtime Amazon customer and Amazon Prime member, advised others: "Many of the items within the store have both a retail price as well as an Amazon Prime price. Talk about instant gratification! They even have daily features akin to what you might see on Amazon.com with their daily deals."

Interested? Stop by to welcome the new business to the neighborhood. Amazon 4-star is open from 10 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.–6 p.m. on Sunday.