Amazon apparently plans to open big box store in Chicago suburbs

Amazon is making something of a return to physical retail via plans to build a big-box retail store in suburban Chicago, The information reports. The 225,000-square-foot retail space will open in Orland Park, Illinois, and will give the company the opportunity to sell much more than just groceries after most of its stores closed. physical bookstores and gift shops in 2022.

The new store will offer in-store shopping but will also serve as a fulfillment center for online orders, which could make it similar to competitors like Target and Walmart, as well as 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 ancillary services and potentially food service locations for prepared foods sold on-site,” Amazon wrote in a planning document. The information seen.

Although Amazon is best known as an online marketplace, it has made several attempts to have a physical retail presence. Amazon Books sold books based on trends on the company’s website, Amazon 4 stars sold a variety of products rated four stars or higher in Amazon reviews and in Amazon Go stores sold prepared foods and select groceries through its cashier-less “Just Walk Out” technology.

Amazon abandoned virtually all of these experiments to stick with the grocery brand he bought in 2017Whole Foods, and the new one he created in the years that followed, Amazon Fresh. This new store could be an entirely new concept, or an evolution of Amazon Fresh, but regardless, it will need approval from the Orland Park Village Board to move forward. according to the Chicago Tribune.