Can Legacy Retailers Stymie Amazon's Grocery Growth?

When Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) enters a new industry, it's often assumed existing players may be wrecked. Many times there's good reason for this sentiment, but not always. On this note, Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods Market may not lead to its total domination of retail and groceries that many initially assumed.

The purchase of the organic foods supermarket by Amazon is undoubtedly a big deal, as it gives the e-commerce retailer an immediate nationwide footprint that it can expand upon. So it wasn't completely unreasonable for investors to send shares of existing grocery store chains like Kroger and SUPERVALU lower in the immediate aftermath of the announcement, because Amazon is well-known for its willingness to spend a lot of money -- and generate a lot of losses -- to build up a critical mass and ultimately own a space.

Yet not every venture for the e-tailer works out as expected -- the Fire Phone, anyone? -- and some of the fretting may have been overblown.

Source: Fool.com