Amazon is preparing to flip the script on its brick and mortar ambitions with a single, sprawling experiment in the Chicago suburbs. The company is moving ahead with what will be its largest physical store to date, a hybrid grocery and general merchandise destination designed to feel less like a tech demo and more like a classic big box. If it works, this megastore could become the template for how Amazon finally scales physical retail. The project is rising in Orland Park, a southwest suburb of Chicago that has long been a regional shopping hub anchored by malls and power centers. Local officials have cleared the way for a massive footprint that rivals the biggest names in traditional retail, signaling that Amazon is no longer content to nibble at the edges of the supermarket and department store business.
Inside the 230,000-square-foot experiment
At the heart of the plan is size. Amazon is building a 230,000-square-foot store in Orland Park, Ill, a scale…..