Amazon is returning to physical retail through plans to build a big-box retail store in the Chicago suburbs. Information Report. The 225,000-square-foot retail space will open in Orland Park, Illinois, and will give the company an opportunity to sell just groceries after closing most of its physical bookstores and gift shops in 2022.
The new store will offer in-store shopping but also serve as a fulfillment center for online orders, which could make it more similar to competitors like Target and Walmart, and some of Amazon’s existing Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh locations. “The proposed development will offer a wide selection of products, including groceries and general merchandise, with support services and potential dining locations for prepared foods,” Amazon wrote in a planning document. Information saw.
While known as an online marketplace, Amazon has made several efforts to have a physical retail presence. Amazon Books sold books based on trending on the company’s website, Amazon 4-Star sold a variety of products that were rated four or more stars in Amazon reviews and the company’s Amazon Go stores sold pre-made meals and select groceries through its cashier-less “just walk out” technology.
Amazon has abandoned all those experiments in favor of sticking with the grocery brand, Whole Foods, originally purchased in 2017, and the new brand, Amazon Fresh, created in the years since. This new store could be an entirely new concept, or an evolution of Amazon Fresh, but whatever it is, it would have to be approved by the Orland Park Village Board to move forward. Chicago Tribune,
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