Is Amazon Poised to Conquer the Department Store Space?
The mid-week, Aug. 19 retail stock surge after two big department store chains reported outstanding results took a brief dip after the Wall Street Journal revealed Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) leaked plans to open department store-style brick-and-mortar locations in several U.S. cities. The store openings, which may foreshadow a much wider entry of Amazon into physical retail, couldn't keep the stock market's bubbly mood down for long, but they do raise some questions.
If Amazon does try to position itself in retail, will it succeed, and will this end up putting other brick-and-mortar retailers out of business? A closer look at the situation suggests there's nothing to sweat over, at least right now.
After outcompeting and shuttering many of the previously thriving department store chains such as Sears with its e-commerce model, ushering in the age of the "retail apocalypse," Amazon is now planning its own brick-and-mortar retail outlets. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that California and Ohio are targeted for some of the first stores. Apparently, the stores will be stocked with Amazon's own private-label merchandise.
Source Fool.com
