Amazon launches biggest ever store in picturesque Midwest village that can fit TWO Targets inside
Amazon's brand dominance online hasn't yet translated offline, but a massive new store in Illinois might be the step towards changing that.
The tech giant is placing a bold bet on bricks and mortar with plans for its biggest-ever physical store - a vast new retail site in the Chicago suburbs that would be large enough to fit nearly two Target stores under one roof.
The village of Orland Park, an hour's drive from Chicago, approved the proposed 230,000 square-foot, single story structure on January 19. They said it would sell groceries, household essentials and general merchandise in a format similar to a Walmart Supercenter.
The Illinois project is unlikely to be a one-off. Amazon is understood to be planning additional big-box stores across the US.
It comes as it refocuses its plans for physical stores. On Tuesday, Amazon said would shut all its 70-plus smaller format Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, while opening around 100 more Whole Foods, the brand it bought in 2017.
Meanwhile in Illinois, Orland Park said the project would create around 200 construction jobs and 500 permanent roles, while generating millions of dollars in sales and property tax revenue.
But the scale of the store - and what would happen inside it - has triggered fierce debate among residents.
Roughly half of the building would be used as back-of-house space to prepare online and in-store orders, according to plans presented to officials. That detail has fueled fears the site could quietly operate as a warehouse rather than a traditional retail store.
In response, Orland Park officials stressed that the permit explicitly bans any warehouse use.
A mock-up aerial view shows Amazon’s proposed Illinois store looking like a Walmart Supercenter. The arrow shows the angle the mock up is looking from
An aerial view of a Walmart Supercenter in Athens, Georgia. Amazon’s proposed Illinois store would mirror the big-box model — selling groceries and household essentials at a scale large enough to rival Walmart’s largest locations
'No other uses are permitted, and if Amazon were to use the facility as a fulfilment center or warehouse the Special Use Permit would be revoked and nullified,' the village said in a Facebook post, and that there would be no tax breaks or incentives.
Amazon has told local leaders the store would combine digital ordering with in-person shopping.
Customers could order different sizes or colors of items they see in-store using kiosks, while bulky purchases — such as large bags of dog food — could be sent directly to their cars instead of being wheeled through checkout.
Online-order customers and third-party delivery drivers would use separate entrances, and grocery orders would be assembled behind the scenes rather than picked from the same aisles as in-store shoppers, Amazon said.
But some locals are not happy. 'So this propaganda basically states the village can't fix the roads without the revenues from Amazon,' one Facebook commenter said.
'Yet this Amazon 230,000 sq ft center and likely thousands of cars delivery vans, Uber drivers etc in and out of this facility are going to magnify the traffic congestion,. So we need Amazon $ to fix Amazon created problems. Got it.'
Others complained about a lack of transparency, saying the development came as a surprise.
One resident was more welcoming, posting: 'Amazon wants and needs this location. This is our town. We welcome and appreciate Amazon retail coming.'
Bare trees line an open field at sunset in Orland Park, Illinois, where Amazon has won approval to build its biggest-ever physical store — a vast big-box site designed to compete with Walmart and Target.
A mock-up of the proposed Amazon megastore in Orland Park, Illinois.
Amazon is buying the 35-acre site and could open the store as soon as next year after demolishing a closed restaurant currently on the property.
Despite its dominance online, Amazon has struggled to find a winning formula in physical retail.
That lead to Tuesday's surprise announcement that it was closing 57 Amazon Fresh stores and 15 Amazon Go locations on February 1.
There was no word with the announcement as to what this latest experiment might be called by either Orland Park or Amazon.
'We regularly test new experiences designed to make customers' lives better and easier every day, including physical stores,' an Amazon spokesperson said.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Amazon told staff it plans to cut around 16,000 roles globally, just three months after axing roughly 14,000 jobs, as it looks to streamline its operations and reduce layers of management.
Chief executive Andy Jassy has said the jobs shake-up is designed to make the company leaner.
‘We’ve been working to strengthen our organisation by reducing layers, increasing ownership and removing bureaucracy,’ he said in a message to staff.
