An Amazon Kindle is seen inside an M-Edge Accessories Guardian case immersed in water at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 2010. US retail giant Target said Wednesday it will begin selling Kindle electronic book reader next week at stores across the United States.

US retail giant Target said Wednesday it will begin selling Amazon's Kindle electronic book reader next week at stores across the United States.

The Minneapolis-based Target began selling the Kindle in selected stores in Minnesota and Florida in April. It said the device will be offered in stores nationwide beginning on Sunday.

Target is the first brick-and-mortar retailer to carry the Kindle, which Amazon has previously sold only through its website.

"Response to Kindle has been overwhelmingly positive," Target senior vice president Mark Schindele said in a statement.

The basic Kindle retails for 259 dollars.

Amazon's decision to sell the Kindle through retail outlets follows the early April release of Apple's , seen as a potential rival to the Kindle. The cheapest iPad is 499 dollars.

said Monday that it has sold two million iPads in less than two months.

Amazon does not release sales figures for the Kindle but the online retail giant says it is their best-selling product.