![recreation of jeff bezos garage as part of delivering the future 2023](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/f178173/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2151x1434+200+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F74%2Ff1%2Fe9615b384a168c6956745e976d9b%2Finline-30-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-inline-017-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4596-copy-2.JPG)

# Amazon recreated the garage where Jeff Bezos started the company in 1994. Here's what it looks like.

*Explore the history of Amazon through our recreation of the first office. *

Amazon’s presence can be found all over the world, from [fulfillment centers](https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/facilities) to [retail stores](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-whole-foods-market-innovative-retailers) to [corporate campuses](https://www.aboutamazon.com/impact/community/hq2). But like many successful companies, Amazon had modest beginnings—in this case, the garage of founder Jeff Bezos.

In July 1995, Amazon.com opened as an online bookseller out of Bezos’ Bellevue, Washington home. And while our operations and inventory look quite different now, we didn’t want to forget our roots.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/d70451f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F37%2Fdf%2Ffb11ecb94280ae3936d8aa361f8b%2Finline-017-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4763-copy.JPG)

We recently recreated Bezos’ garage and our original fulfillment shelves. It's not an exact replica, but it will give you a good idea of how things were done back in the day. You’ll also learn some interesting tidbits of Amazon history and see how the thinking that drove many early business decisions continues to [guide Amazon as a company](https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us) today.

**Step back in time and explore Amazon’s beginnings with these photos.**

The birthplace of Amazon was simple, housing a desk, computer, and basic office supplies.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/5b824a9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fbb%2Fe2%2Fc16ac25c4060a3579d8a809badd7%2Finline-014-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4726-copy.JPG)

The “door desk” is a [distinct part of Amazon culture](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/how-a-door-became-a-desk-and-a-symbol-of-amazon). As the story goes, the first desks in this office were built by buying doors from Home Depot and attaching legs to them. To this day, door desks remain a symbol of frugality, [one of Amazon’s core values](https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us/leadership-principles), and a reminder of the business’ creative, scrappy start.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/44a37b1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F9b%2F0c%2F0676086046c9b87bc4fe56c76589%2Finline-015-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4737-copy.JPG)

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/6e2f8d7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fef%2F59%2F6579200f4ceaa784760cac219f66%2Finline-018-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4785-copy.JPG)

The first book ever sold on Amazon was [*Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought*](https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Concepts-Creative-Analogies-Fundamental/dp/0465024750) by Douglas R. Hofstadter. It was purchased by Mr. Wainwright.

The team initially implemented a system that beeped every time a customer placed an order, but orders soon came in so quickly that the beepers had to be disabled.

By the end of the first month of business, Amazon had shipped books to all 50 states in the U.S. and 45 countries.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/a122e57/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fa7%2F33%2F06322ca2457391352b9aeae0494f%2Finline-007-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4574-copy.JPG)

Everyone knows the first book in the *Harry Potter* series, but it has a special place in Amazon’s history for inspiring the use of a process called random stow.

![A split image showing several photos of the outside of the Amazon robotics facility in Sumner, WA, a closeup of a warehouse robot, an image of a box impact testing system, and an image of stacked mobile drive unit robots.](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/ae503ea/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2229x1486+206+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fa8%2F54%2F51b2f9894e1781479741852b9095%2Fhero-robotics-v2.jpg)

- [14 exclusive photos from inside the Amazon Robotics research facility in Washington](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/amazon-robotics-facility-tour-washington)

In 1997, book inventory was organized by title. However, popular book titles such as *Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone* often created bottlenecks in the fulfillment process and slowed down the flow of operations because pickers had to line up and wait in the area for their turn.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/dfbdd1a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fc8%2F1a%2Fb1672fdd40089875448d40650e7b%2Finline-004-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4546-copy.JPG)

With random stow, popular titles could be stowed on any available shelf, ultimately eliminating delays in the picking process and improving operational flow.

Random stow is still used today in Amazon fulfillment centers around the world to get your order to you as efficiently as possible.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/ef51164/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F3f%2F82%2Fa028707442579ef06bcc6ef486c6%2Finline-020-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4813-copy.JPG)

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/aed6e42/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fac%2Fbe%2F416f6d1345e68dd2d1e8a5cd22a4%2Finline-009-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4654-copy.JPG)

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/559dec3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F00%2F88%2Fec237fc24920aed820da1879afbf%2Finline-005-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4565-copy.JPG)

Amazon’s first warehouse, the Seattle Distribution Center (SDC), was located on Dawson Street in Seattle. Here, Amazon employees picked and packed orders by walking through rows of shelves with flatbed carts.

Picking orders was a manual process: the inventory management system generated a batch of items to pick based on the customer order. Each batch was printed on collated pick-sheets and assigned to staff based on different pick paths.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/9f11070/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F34%2Fe4%2F1b30d2694fde9bcd230da7daca85%2Finline-023-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4959-copy.JPG)

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/503b215/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fb5%2F5c%2Fdc63e53545cda67da41705e9b4e5%2Finline-013-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4678-copy.JPG)

The nature of picking orders is repetitive. To help reduce repetitive motion such as bending, reaching, and twisting, we leverage robotic technology like what you see today—things like [our small but mighty robot, Hercules](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/amazon-hercules-robot), which steps in to help sort packages, move products, and improve the employee safety experience.

![recreation of jeff bezos garage and original fulfillment centers as part of the immersive experience at delivering the future at bfi1 in washington](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/041f03c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2550x1434+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F73%2F2a%2F3022b3794551b05e0a962509f4d7%2Finline-021-amazon-bezos-deliveringthefuture-z9a4838-copy.JPG)

![An image depicting the current step in the assembly process](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/e78de98/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x1067+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fc9%2F10%2F1db3cf344ecd942ac75062035b77%2Famazon-robotics-hercules-fulfillment-center-robot.jpg)

It’s always Day 1 at Amazon—even if we’re no longer operating out of a garage. We continue to innovate on behalf of customers, and approach everything with the same energy and spirit in the room on that first day in 1995.