Amazon plans to open large physical retail stores in U.S.

Amazon.com Inc is planning to open several large physical retail stores in the United States that would operate like department stores, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. 

Some of the first Amazon department stores are expected to be located in Ohio and California, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.

The new retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet, smaller than most department stores, which typically occupy about 100,000 square feet, and will offer items from top consumer brands.

The Amazon stores will dwarf many of the company’s other physical retail spaces and will have a footprint similar to scaled-down formats that Bloomingdale’s Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and other department-store chains have begun opening, the people said.

It is unclear what brands Amazon will offer in the stores, although the company’s private-label goods are expected to feature prominently, the people said. Amazon sells scores of products including clothes, furniture, batteries and electronic devices through many of its own labels. The plans aren’t yet final and could change, these people said.

Photo: EPA-EFE/FRIEDEMANN VOGEL

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