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There has been speculation for years now that Amazon isn't satisfied with just dominating internet sales and that at some point the online giant would look to expand to brick and mortar sites. Speculation in the past had Amazon either buying out or just taking over spaces left by J.C. Penny or Sears.

Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Amazon is planning on opening "large" retail locations that would look like department stores. Amazon would use these locations to sell clothing  and household items. They would also be used for exchange and return sites.

So will Texas and more importantly Lubbock see an Amazon Department Store any time soon? That may depend on your definition of soon. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon will be testing the idea in Ohio and California.

Some of the first Amazon department stores are expected to be located in Ohio and California, the people said. The new retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet, smaller than most department stores, which typically occupy about 100,000 square feet, and will offer items from top consumer brands. The Amazon stores will dwarf many of the company’s other physical retail spaces and will have a footprint similar to scaled-down formats that Bloomingdale’s Inc., Nordstrom Inc.and other department-store chains have begun opening, the people said.

The stores are expected to sell electronics, clothes, and other household items. Of course for Amazon, they would be getting into something that has struggled for decades now. Department stores have been shrinking, not growing as more and more people are buying online from sites like, Amazon.

So will Amazon be opening in Texas? If the Amazon Department Store is a hit, you better believe they will opening throughout Texas. I'd imagine Austin or Dallas would get the first location, but after that there is no shortage of available mall and strip center space open throughout the state.

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