Amazon looks to turn malls into fulfillment centers, report says

Amazon might have a use for your crumbling neighborhood mall, even if you don't.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the ecommerce giant is currently in talks to turn scores of rapidly emptying JCPenney and Sears mall locations into scaled-down fulfillment centers. Simon Property Group, which owns malls across the county, even pre-pandemic allegedly sought to bring Amazon into at least some of its many locations across the country.

Such a deal would provide Amazon with hubs perfect for same-day delivery, and might further diminish the status of the mall as a physical shopping destination.

Notably, this would not mark the first time Amazon repurposed malls for its own designs. In May of last year, the Wall Street Journal published a report titled "Why Amazon Is Gobbling Up Failed Malls" which focused on a similar practice in Northeastern Ohio.

Mall owners have long seen a change coming, and in 2017 attempted a pivot away from what was considered traditional mall businesses to grocery stores, gyms, and fancy restaurants.

"Our properties are not just about retail or shopping," mall owner CBL & Associates Properties CEO Stephen Lebovitz said in a statement reported by CNBC at the time, "they serve as gathering places for their respective communities."

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With many communities unable to safely gather in the face of the coronavirus, it's perhaps not shocking that the trend away from the mall would only accelerate. And, is it often does, it's not too shocking that Amazon is there to pick at whatever decomposing pieces remain.