“General Growth Properties, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Mathrani has indicated that a statement he made concerning Amazon during GGP’s earnings conference call held on February 2, 2016, was not intended to represent Amazon’s plans,” according to a statement released by the company Wednesday.
General Growth Properties CEO Sandeep Mathrani had said on his company’s earnings call: “You’ve got Amazon opening brick-and-mortar bookstores and their goal is to open, as I understand, 300 to 400.”
A move into larger-scale brick-and-mortar commerce would follow Amazon’s decision to open a store in Seattle last November.
Barnes & Noble shares, which fell 9% on Wednesday following the report, were up as much as 9% in after hours trade on Wednesday after Mathrani’s statement.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.