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According to Bloomberg Amazon is in talks to buy some of RadioShack's stores:
Amazon has considered using the RadioShack stores as showcases for the Seattle-based company’s hardware, as well as potential pickup and drop-off centers for online customers, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the deliberations are private.
RadioShack is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, and according to other reports, it has also been in talks with wireless carrier Sprint about selling some of its stores. The deal with Amazon may not happen, but nonetheless, it shows where Amazon is headed.
To head off competition from Wal-Mart—one of the few retailers that could pose a legitimate threat to Amazon—and to expand its operation, the company has adopted a new hybrid business model, combining e-commerce with offline services.
Originally spotted at Wired, and also linked at HackerNews.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by opinionated_science on Wednesday February 04 2015, @06:56PM
alternatively, since Amazon allows you to sell your stuff, and Walmart doesn't (yet), it could be we are witnessing the next phase of industrial revolution for logistics.
The lockboxes and combined with UPS/Fedex is already pretty optimal. Add some robots in there, and if you are a small producer of something unique, you will be able to scale massively for almost no cost.
Or am I perhaps too optimistic in how I think this will turn out?