Amazon is looking to make another foray into brick-and-mortar retail, proposing a massive big-box store in Orland Park, a suburb of Chicago.
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The online shopping behemoth submitted plans for a 229K SF large-format store that would be bigger than a Walmart Supercenter, which averages around 179K SF. The store would offer groceries, household essentials and other products and feature a limited warehouse component to support on-site operations.
"This is a new retail and likely first of its kind," an Amazon representative said at an Orland Park Plan Commission meeting last week, according to NBCChicago.
With the 229K SF building, the retail titan is taking another swing at in-person shopping after it scrapped or slowed down the rollout of multiple previous concepts, including bookstores, shopping mall kiosks and apparel stores.
In 2017, Amazon acquired the grocery chain Whole Foods, retaining the grocer's branding. Recently, Amazon began experimenting with a small convenience-style Whole Foods store format called Daily Shops.
The Orland Park Plan Commission approved Amazon's proposal amid residents' concerns about how the development would affect their day-to-day lives, including impacts on traffic and property values.
The new concept would sit at the corner of two major highways near a Target, Costco and Trader Joe's. Amazon told NBCChicago that the building is under contract and the retailer hopes to break ground in 2027.
The full village board will vote on Amazon's proposal on Jan. 19.
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