Amazon is no longer content to dominate only the digital aisle. Its latest move, a sprawling big-box experiment outside Chicago, signals a direct assault on Walmart’s core territory of weekly stock-up trips and one-stop household shopping. By scaling up to a footprint that rivals or exceeds traditional supercenters, Amazon is turning physical retail into the next front in a rivalry that has already reshaped e-commerce.
The strategy is as much about power as it is about square footage. By fusing its logistics muscle, data-driven merchandising, and a new brick-and-mortar format, Amazon is betting it can out-Walmart Walmart on its home turf while tightening its grip on the broader retail economy.
Inside Amazon’s Chicago-area superstore gambit
At the center of this escalation is a proposed 229,000 square foot big-box site in Orland Park, a suburb of Chicago, that would be larger than many Walmart Supercenters and designed to function as a full-line superstore. The project, described as a 229,000 Sq Ft Big Box Store Larger Than Walmart Supercenters, marks what Jan reporting has framed as Amazon’s most aggressive physical retail push yet, and it is explicitly calibrated to match the breadth of a weekly Walmart run, from groceries to general merchandise. Local planning documents show Amazon leaning into the familiar big-box template rather than trying to reinvent it, a sign that the company sees value in meeting shoppers where they already know how to navigate.
Another Jan report details how Amazon, trading as Amazon+0.44% on the day of the news, is planning a 229,000-square-foot facility in Orland Park that would combine grocery, general merchandise, and household essentials under one roof. That scale puts it in the same league as a Walmart Supercenter while giving Amazon room to integrate back-of-house fulfillment functions that can feed its online network. In other words, this is not just a store, it is a hybrid retail and logistics node that extends Amazon’s reach across both physical and digital channels in the Chicago region.
From failed formats to a Walmart-style reset
Amazon’s pivot to a single, massive superstore format is also a tacit admission that its earlier brick-and-mortar experiments were too fragmented. The company’s attempts at running apparel stores, bookstores, and the 4-star concept, which only sold items with a 4-star rating or better, have largely been wound down after underwhelming performance, according to Jan coverage of the company’s physical retail reset. Those closures cleared the slate for a new approach that leans less on novelty and more on the proven appeal of a one-stop destination, a model that has long powered Walmart’s dominance.
The new Chicago-area plan reflects that reset. Reporting on the approximately 225,000-square-foot store near Chicago describes a layout that blends a full grocery offering with general merchandise, positioning Amazon to capture the same weekly trip that anchors Walmart’s traffic. By consolidating categories that were once scattered across niche formats into a single big-box concept, Amazon is effectively borrowing the supercenter blueprint that Walmart perfected, then layering on its own strengths in data, Prime membership, and delivery.
Why Orland Park matters in the Amazon–Walmart rivalry
Location is strategy, and Orland Park is no exception. The Orland Park Plan Commission has already signed off on Amazon’s proposal, with The Orland Park Plan Commission approving the project on a Tuesday meeting that moved it to the next stage of local review. That approval underscores how suburban municipalities see Amazon’s investment as a long-term economic anchor, with the promise of jobs, sales tax revenue, and redevelopment of a key commercial corridor. For Amazon, it offers a dense, car-centric trade area that mirrors the kind of suburban markets where Walmart Supercenters have thrived for decades.
Agenda materials for the project outline a concept to redevelop an approximately 35-acre property with a one-story commercial building rather than a large-scale distribution center, signaling that Amazon is serious about retail, not just warehousing, in this suburb. Additional analysis of Amazon’s proposal to build a 229,000 square foot store in Orland Park, Illinois argues that the move immediately changes the tone of the conversation around Amazon’s physical presence, positioning the company’s Chicago-area big box as a flagship in what some observers are calling Amazon’s Physical Retail Reset. By choosing Orland Park, Illinois, Amazon is planting a flag in a market where Walmart already has a strong footprint, turning the suburb into a live test of which model resonates more with middle-class families.
How the superstore fits Amazon’s broader retail playbook
The Chicago-area project is not happening in isolation, it is part of a broader recalibration of Amazon’s offline strategy. Coverage of Amazon’s plans to build a big-box store near Chicago notes that the 229,000-square-foot facility would sell groceries, general merchandise, and other essentials, effectively mirroring the product mix of a Walmart Supercenter while also serving as a physical touchpoint for Amazon’s online ecosystem. That same reporting frames the store as a key piece of Amazon Plans to Build Big Box Store Near Chicago, a strategy that could allow the company to use physical locations as both shopping destinations and last-mile hubs.
Industry analysis of Amazon’s offline retail strategy points out that the company is rethinking brick-and-mortar through the lens of Shipping, Delivery, and Brand Marketing, with an Article by Zak Stambor Jan highlighting how a nearly Chicago-area superstore can support both in-store sales and faster local delivery. By tying a large-format store into a network that already generates $147.16 billion in total revenues from advertising and other services, Amazon can treat each big-box site as a multi-purpose asset: a billboard for Prime, a showroom for devices, and a micro-fulfillment center that shortens delivery windows for surrounding ZIP codes.
Can Walmart keep its crown as Amazon scales up offline?
For Walmart, the threat is not just that Amazon is copying its store format, it is that the challenger is closing in on the revenue leaderboard. Analysts cited in a Nov report titled Who The Retail King Now, Amazon Stands Tall As It Prepares To Surpass Walmart In Annual Revenue For First Time Ever expect Amazon to report $691.3 billion in revenue for the year ending in January 2026. That trajectory suggests Amazon could soon overtake Walmart in annual sales, even before its big-box experiment fully scales, raising the stakes of every new physical store it opens.
Local coverage of Amazon Proposes Its First Big Box Retail Location, Targets Suburban Chicago notes that the company is eyeing suburban Chicago for a new store format called Daily Shops, signaling that the Orland Park project may be the first in a broader rollout of large-format and mid-size concepts. Another report describes how Local officials approved an Amazon plan to build a 225,000 square-foot mega store near Chicago, with Plans indicating the facility would be used for both retail and back-end functions, a dual role that could give Amazon cost advantages over traditional supercenters. A separate analysis notes that Amazon is moving ahead with plans to open a superstore in suburban Illinois that would be bigger than a typical Walmart location, building on a strategy that began with its acquisition of Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion and now extends into direct competition with Walmart’s core format.
All of this is unfolding as Amazon Plans to Build Big Box Store Near Chicago and deepen its presence in the region, reinforcing that the Orland Park project is not a one-off experiment but a signal of intent. If the 229,000-square-foot prototype proves it can pull shoppers away from a nearby Walmart Supercenter while boosting online engagement, Amazon will have a template it can replicate across other suburbs. At that point, the war with Walmart will not just be about who owns the digital cart, it will be about who controls the parking lot outside the biggest store in town.
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Grant Mercer covers market dynamics, business trends, and the economic forces driving growth across industries. His analysis connects macro movements with real-world implications for investors, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Through his work at The Daily Overview, Grant helps readers understand how markets function and where opportunities may emerge.
