Amazon Is Opening a Massive Big Box Store

Sometimes it feels like Amazon surely, surely can’t get any bigger—but it seems like it’s just getting started. The online retailer has dominated the internet for what seems like forever, and in the last few years, it’s been making a play for brick-and-mortar business. Despite its endless supply of cash and brand recognition, it has yet to compete significantly with Walmart, Target, and Costco, and its Amazon Fresh and Go stores haven’t caught on with customers. 

But now, Amazon appears to be pivoting its physical retail strategy and going full-throttle with a big box model. Here’s what we know.

Amazon’s First Big Box Store Is a Costco and Walmart Rival

According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon’s first bulk buy location is in development in Orland Park, Illinois, and is set to be roughly a mammoth 230,000 square feet. This, in case you were wondering, is almost 60,000 square feet bigger than the average Walmart, and almost double the size of an average Target. Well, it’s never done things by halves, right? The plan is for the Orland Park store (and the other big box stores that Amazon has in the pipeline) to function half as a regular in-person retail location, and half as a fulfillment center for orders placed in-store or online. It’s said that it could be open next year, with Amazon in the process of applying for building permits.

The move into big box retail represents a pivot away from smaller-scale grocery stores, which have proven to be a bit of a disaster for the former bookstore. Amazon has had to close more than 50% of its Amazon Go stores, and it’s now time to say goodbye to its Amazon Fresh stores, because they’re all shutting up shop. That said, Amazon News reports that it has plans to convert some of these units into Whole Foods stores and to continue expanding the brand, which it has owned since 2017, in other areas. 

Response to Amazon’s Big Box Plans Has Been Mixed

On the surface, Amazon’s move into big box retail makes sense for the brand, and it seems to bridge the gap between its online market and its ambitions for a greater share of brick-and-mortar retail. However, industry analysis has observed that if its big box stores are going to succeed, then it needs to find a way to not just be a Costco or Walmart dupe.  “Let’s be honest: Do we need an Amazon big-box store? The honest answer is no, not really, the market is already very saturated,” Neil Saunders, managing director for GlobalData, told the WSJ. “I’m curious to see what they do to drive the foot traffic.”

Others have pointed out that Amazon’s new retail strategy is just a little bit ironic, considering their whole business model has been based on moving people away from physical purchases—and if it fails, it only has itself to blame. “Spend two decades making people want to stop going to the store, build store and wonder why no one comes,” stated a comment on Reddit. I mean… fair point. 

Will you be dropping into a brick-and-mortar Amazon? Let us know in the comments.