Amazon is converting vacant shopping malls in the United States into fulfilment centres for online orders. In doing so, the e-tailer offers the solution to the vacancy problem, which it created itself, so to speak.
NBC News writes about Amazon's recent moves. In several places in the United States, the online giant has received approval to convert shopping malls, which are suffering from vacancies due to e-commerce and the corona pandemic.
In December, Amazon received approval for the demolition of a shopping mall in Worcester, Massachusetss, to put a distribution centre of around 11,000 square metres here. This was followed in March by the green light for a shopping mall in Knoxville, Tennessee. That will be a distribution centre of more than 20,000 square metres. Between 2016 and 2019, Amazon already converted 25 shopping malls, according to figures from Coresight Research.
By turning shopping malls into logistics locations, Amazon is making smart use of real estate that has been hard to find tenants for in recent years. The properties are therefore sold relatively cheaply. The shopping centres are also located near residential areas, putting Amazon close to consumers.
