Kindle coming to Target retail stores

Amazon’s Kindle will get its first stint at brick-and-mortar stores, when the e-reader arrives at select Target locations.

On April 25, the Kindle will arrive at Target’s flagship store in downtown Minneapolis, along with 102 locations in South Florida. Other Target stores will get the Kindle later this year.

The price will remain the same, at $259, but this is the first time that people who don’t know any other Kindle owners will be able to try the e-reader before they buy it. Amazon has sold the Kindle exclusively on its Web site until now. As this announcement came from Target, it’s not clear whether any other retail stores, in the United States or elsewhere, will get the Kindle.

There are some subtle jabs at Apple’s iPad in the press release issued by Target, particularly with this sentence: “Kindle fits comfortably in one hand for hours, has an e-ink display that is easy on the eyes even in bright daylight, two weeks of battery life, and 3G wireless with no monthly fees.” None of those features hold true for Apple’s tablet.

Because the iPad has a digital book reader and store, it’s considered a rival to the Kindle, and a more capable one at that. Amazon needs to focus on how the Kindle excels at reading books. But it’s also in Target’s interest to knock the iPad as well, given that rival retailer Best Buy is the only non-Apple store to sell the iPad. Clearly, both Target and Amazon needed this retail offering to keep up with the competition.

I’m glad to see the Kindle finally make it to retail stores, and hope the nationwide rollout doesn’t take long. If anything, this is a signal that e-readers are finally entering the mainstream, and that can only mean more support for digital books among publishers.