January 12, 2026
Alexeynovikov/Depositphotos.com
What Can Amazon Do with a Superstore?
Marking its largest store to date and the size of a new Walmart Superstore, Amazon is seeking to open a one-story, 229,000-square-foot store in Orland Park, a suburb of Chicago.
Planning documents said the facility would offer both groceries and general merchandise, as well as prepared foods. Customers would also be able to place and receive online orders on-site.
“It’s the best that Amazon has to offer under Whole Foods, Fresh and their online offerings,” said Katie Jahnke Dale, an attorney representing Amazon at a community meeting, according to patch.com, “We like to explain it as: So what does that look like? It’s a grocery store. But it’s purpose-built for what we’re seeing: retail customers demand today to provide a very safer experience for customers. As well as a more pleasant customer experience.”
Jahnke Dale didn’t say the store would employ Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, but implied the concept would include some other innovations Amazon has trialed in its other store concepts — such as in-store shoppers being able to shop and pay via their mobile phone, or use in-store kiosks to purchase items not easily located.
“Nothing that we’re doing here, though, is different than what we all are experiencing in retail stores that exist today,” Jahnke Dale said.
She stressed that the concept’s function is a store rather than a warehouse, with several community residents expressing concerns about traffic. She said, “I want to reiterate, maybe for the fifth or sixth time since I started my presentation, that this is a retail concept, a retail store, albeit with perhaps a larger storeroom in the back, which will allow us to enhance the customer experience.”
The Orland Park Plan Commission last week voted 6-1 in approval of Amazon’s development plans. The project has to be approved by the village board.
Amazon Remains Bullish on its Grocery Prospects, Shows Commitment to Physical Retail
Amazon has been ridiculed for its flagging attempts at physical retail. In March 2022, all 68 of its Amazon Books, 4-Star, and pop-up shop concepts were shuttered. In early 2023, some Amazon Fresh grocery stores were closed, and openings temporarily paused as perishable sales underperformed. Amazon Go closed about half its store base over 2023 and 2024.
Amazon now operates 58 Amazon Fresh stores, 14 Go convenience locations, and more than 500 Whole Foods Markets.
On Amazon’s first-quarter 2025 analyst call, CEO Andy Jassy said he remains “very bullish” about the company’s grocery business.
Jassy acknowledged that the Amazon Fresh banner needed a “broader, mass perishables offering,” but has found some success with a revamp. Whole Foods, acquired in 2017, is “growing meaningfully faster than the grocery industry in general, with a really good profitability trajectory with the changes we’ve made over the last couple years and a great customer experience,” he added.
He further noted that Amazon has found “very promising” results from same-day delivery of perishables. Amazon in December expanded perishable deliveries to over 2,300 cities. Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, said at the time, “The selection, value, and convenience of Same-Day Delivery from Amazon makes grocery shopping that much easier for families across the country.”
BrainTrust
Tom Ryan
Managing Editor, RetailWire
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Why is Amazon exploring a 229,000-square-foot store?
Do larger stores make more sense for Amazon?
Poll
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At this stage, the store is more experimental than anything else. However, Amazon has two primary aims. The first is to try and deepen share of wallet with customers and draw in new customers – in areas like Chicago where Amazon is already heavily penetrated this is important. The second is to see whether grocery combined with general merchandise can work – especially as stand-alone grocery stores are an area Amazon continues to struggle with. Whether this works remains to be seen. Bar Whole Foods, Amazon’s track record of physical store concepts isn’t great because they tend to focus too much on technology and not enough on customers and differentiation – and given there are so many physical stores to choose from, those things are critical.
When Amazon opened its first retail stores, many questioned how far this was outside of their expertise. However, buying the grocery store chains was a different strategy. It was not just about retail but also about supporting distribution to deliver grocery items. But a superstore is a different animal. There is a proven track record for other brands (Walmart, Costco, etc.) Does it make sense for Amazon? They will test (and test), and, as usual, they will be fairly quick to decide whether it’s working. My prediction: it will work.
We should agree to disagree. However, Amazon has the funds to keep trying concepts until (and if) they hit on one.
When Bezos bought Whole Foods I expressed interest in the many savvy things they might do with the chain. Fundamentally, though, they did nothing. It may simply be that their digital obsessions blinded them to good opportunity. I think it’s more likely that retailers have quite savvy structures in place so there’s little dramatic advantage beyond doing the basics well. What might happen here? Nothing important. There’s no evidence Amazon has unique insight into stores.
From the outside looking in, Retail brick and mortar seems simple to build and operate. Just ask Eddy Lampert, or the scores of others intelligent well-meaning people who have tried and failed. Now if Amazon were to stuff 220,000 sq. feet with an eclectic assortment of quality returns at really great prices – that’s a treasure hunt that could generate some fun, margin and take care of some of the problems of reverse logistics.
I don’t think that Amazon has the right amount of internal knowledge to run retail. I believe that, hoping they do not screw up Whole Foods, Amazon should stay with their online business and allow brick-and-mortar retailers to operate retail businesses.
I’m confused. Why make a Walmart-esque mega-move before maxing out opportunities with existing assets like Whole Foods (That palm pay thing is darned nifty. Got anything else? Anything?)
Of course, Amazon has the resources to test as many money pits as it likes and we can always wait for the “learnings.”
I’d like to know what the Amazon rep meant when she said that this store would provide “a very safer experience for customers.”
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At this stage, the store is more experimental than anything else. However, Amazon has two primary aims. The first is to try and deepen share of wallet with customers and draw in new customers – in areas like Chicago where Amazon is already heavily penetrated this is important. The second is to see whether grocery combined with general merchandise can work – especially as stand-alone grocery stores are an area Amazon continues to struggle with. Whether this works remains to be seen. Bar Whole Foods, Amazon’s track record of physical store concepts isn’t great because they tend to focus too much on technology and not enough on customers and differentiation – and given there are so many physical stores to choose from, those things are critical.
When Amazon opened its first retail stores, many questioned how far this was outside of their expertise. However, buying the grocery store chains was a different strategy. It was not just about retail but also about supporting distribution to deliver grocery items. But a superstore is a different animal. There is a proven track record for other brands (Walmart, Costco, etc.) Does it make sense for Amazon? They will test (and test), and, as usual, they will be fairly quick to decide whether it’s working. My prediction: it will work.
We should agree to disagree. However, Amazon has the funds to keep trying concepts until (and if) they hit on one.
When Bezos bought Whole Foods I expressed interest in the many savvy things they might do with the chain. Fundamentally, though, they did nothing. It may simply be that their digital obsessions blinded them to good opportunity. I think it’s more likely that retailers have quite savvy structures in place so there’s little dramatic advantage beyond doing the basics well. What might happen here? Nothing important. There’s no evidence Amazon has unique insight into stores.
From the outside looking in, Retail brick and mortar seems simple to build and operate. Just ask Eddy Lampert, or the scores of others intelligent well-meaning people who have tried and failed. Now if Amazon were to stuff 220,000 sq. feet with an eclectic assortment of quality returns at really great prices – that’s a treasure hunt that could generate some fun, margin and take care of some of the problems of reverse logistics.
I don’t think that Amazon has the right amount of internal knowledge to run retail. I believe that, hoping they do not screw up Whole Foods, Amazon should stay with their online business and allow brick-and-mortar retailers to operate retail businesses.
I’m confused. Why make a Walmart-esque mega-move before maxing out opportunities with existing assets like Whole Foods (That palm pay thing is darned nifty. Got anything else? Anything?)
Of course, Amazon has the resources to test as many money pits as it likes and we can always wait for the “learnings.”
I’d like to know what the Amazon rep meant when she said that this store would provide “a very safer experience for customers.”