Amazon plans to open department stores in the US: WSJ

The e-commerce giant is expanding into the brick-and-mortar arena with plans to open the first shops in Ohio and California, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

Amazon is planning to open large physical retail stores in the United States that will function as departments stores and sell a variety of goods including clothes, household items and electronics, people familiar with the retail giant’s plans told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thursday. The e-commerce firm’s first physical stores are expected to open in Ohio and California, and will be about 2,787 square metres (30,000 square feet), similar in size to Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom department stores, WSJ said in an exclusive report. It is not yet clear what brands the company will offer at its brick-and-mortar shops, although its own Amazon label, which makes products ranging from clothes and furniture to batteries and electronic devices, is expected to feature prominently, the sources said.