E-commerce behemoth Amazon is looking to a site in the Chicago suburbs for its biggest store format yet, marking its latest experiment to boost bricks-and-mortar sales.
The Seattle-based company is seeking zoning approval to build a 229,000-square-foot building in Orland Park, Illinois, about 25 miles southwest of Chicago’s Loop business district. Orland Park officials disclosed Amazon’s interest in the project at the southwest corner of 159th Street and LaGrange Road earlier this month
Amazon’s Chicago-area proposal appears to be the company’s answer to competitors such as Target and Walmart, with a twist.
The building would be “primarily retail in nature, with a limited warehouse component supporting on-site operations,” according to Orland Park’s announcement of the project.
The company for years has made moves with varying degrees of success throughout the country to sell a variety of products and services, from groceries to books to in-person shoppers. It has scrapped concepts such as Amazon Pop Up, Amazon 4-star and Amazon Books.
Amazon’s grocery strategy
The company acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017, and it has rolled out new concepts such as Amazon Grocery and Amazon Go. In 2024, Amazon overhauled several Amazon Fresh supermarkets in a reset of that format.
Amazon launched a smaller-format Whole Foods Daily Market Shop concept in 2024, and late last year the company combined groceries, household items and a 10,000-square-foot, automated fulfillment center within a Whole Foods Market in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.
The suburban Chicago store is expected to sell products including groceries, prepared foods and general merchandise, according to Orland Park, with a limited warehouse component to support operations of the store.
“We regularly test new experiences designed to make customers’ lives better and easier every day, including physical stores,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email to CoStar News. “The site in question is our planned location for a new concept that we think customers will be excited about.”
The online retailer recently won approval from the village's plan commission to redevelop the vacant, 35-acre site.
Orland Park's board of trustees is expected to decide whether to provide final approval for the project during its regularly scheduled meeting next week.
The site is within a short drive of several big-box competitors such as Walmart Supercenter, Target and Costco, as well as traditional grocers including Jewel-Osco and Aldi. The site also is not far from the Orland Square shopping mall.