The Seattle Amazon pickup location. (Amazon Photo)

Amazon has opened its first Seattle package pickup location, a storefront where customers can retrieve orders and return items.

The store is located at 14333 Aurora Ave. N. in north Seattle, and it offers free same- and one-day shipping on millions of items for Amazon Prime shoppers. Typically, customers must meet a $25 minimum to get free shipping, but Amazon’s pickup locations offer free shipping on all orders.

There are about 30 pickup locations in the U.S., which are like a cross between a FedEx or UPS Store and Amazon Lockers. The store provides the same secure pickup point for packages as Amazon Lockers, but it is also staffed with people who can help with returns and other tasks.

Having these centralized pickup points helps Amazon further speed up its delivery times. The storefront also provides a more secure option for picking up orders as the prevalence of e-commerce has led to concerns of package theft.

The pickup locations represent Amazon’s latest expansion of its brick and mortar footprint. Amazon’s retail portfolio includes bookstores, grocery pickup locations, Amazon Go, pop-ups and, most notably, its network of Whole Foods stores.

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