​​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.”