Amazon has submitted proposals to build a one-story, 229,000-square-foot big-box retail store in Orland Park, Illinois—roughly 28% larger than the average U.S. Walmart Supercenter, which averages 179,000 square feet. The facility would stock groceries, household essentials and general merchandise, and include a limited on-site warehouse component with dedicated bays for delivery drivers to pick up online orders. The Orland Park Plan Commission approved the proposal on January 6, and the full village board is scheduled to vote on January 19.

This project represents Amazon’s largest standalone retail footprint to date, extending its physical-store experiments that have included bookstores, fashion outlets, convenience marts and Amazon Fresh supermarkets. Since acquiring Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion in 2017, Amazon has pursued brick-and-mortar formats to complement its e-commerce network and capture additional market share from incumbents. Investors should watch capital expenditures as Amazon scales this concept and monitors customer adoption rates.

The proposed site sits at the intersection of two major highways and will replace Petey’s II restaurant, which closed in January 2024. It sits within a retail corridor featuring Target, Costco and Trader Joe’s, heightening competitive dynamics. Some residents have raised traffic concerns, which could delay zoning approvals or impose infrastructure upgrades. A successful rollout could validate Amazon’s ability to integrate physical and digital retail, while permitting challenges or underperformance could temper investor enthusiasm.