New Amazon 4-star store opens in Oakbrook Center

OAK BROOK, Ill. (WLS) -- Amazon 4-star takes the best of its website and puts into one spot for shoppers.

The new store, which opened Wednesday in Oak Brook, proves some updated tried-and-true tactics still work in the fight for your dollar.

Most of us are used to Amazon by now; in a few clicks and you buy what you're looking for on their website and then it shows up at your door.

But what happens when you take all of those popular four star items and put them in a real store?

"Online you never really know what the product you're going to get is, but in the store you're able to see everything on hand and what you are getting," said shopper Savannah Riley.

She and her mom Mindy came all the way from Wisconsin for the in-person Amazon shopping experience.

"That way you can have the experience and see if you really want it or not," Riley said. "It's going to be a hit."

The Amazon 4 Star in Oak Brook store is one of only seven in the country, and the only one in Chicagoland.

It curates the highest-rated Amazon items, from toys and electronics to books and games, and puts them front and center in brick and mortar retail store. Below each is an electronic item tag keeping tally of how well each item is rated and how many reviews it has.

But why make a store like this when it seems Amazon's buying focus is all about online?

"The more ubiquitous you become in their life, the more you become part of their life. And it's just an absolutely smart thing to do," said retail expert James Dion of Dionco Inc.

Dion says it's a multi-pronged approach to marketing.

"I think great companies experiment. When you stop experimenting you die," he said.

Amazon said items will change with online and in store buying trends that are tailored to the area.

The average rating of all the products in Amazon 4-star Oakbrook Center is 4.18 stars.