Amazon May Be Using Former Sears Stores as Fulfillment Centers

It’s only natural that Amazon, a company that is getting bigger and bigger, find more locations to fulfill orders for its customers.

The e-commerce giant is now looking at perhaps using former J.C. Penney and Sears stores as fulfillment centers according to a Wall Street Journal report from this past weekend.

According to the WSJ report, Amazon is in talks with mall-owner Simon Property Group about using some closed J.C. Penney and Sears stores although it is unclear how many of the stores inside Simon malls are under consideration.

“For Amazon, more fulfillment centers near residential areas would speed up the crucial last mile of delivery,” The Wall Street Journal wrote. “For Simon, turning over what was once prime mall space to fulfillment centers shows it would be willing to relinquish an essential way to bring in more mall traffic to secure a steady tenant.

Amazon has a policy of never commenting on rumors and Simon Property Group also declined to comment.

It was in June that J.C. Penney announced that it would be closing 154 retails stores this summer.

On Monday Simon Property Group saw its shares drop in after-hours trading after the company reported second quarter financial results revealing a 24% YOY decline in its revenue to $1.06 billion.

Profit totaled $254.21 million, or $0.83 per share. This compares with $495.32 million, or $1.60 per share, in last year’s second quarter. Analysts had been expecting $0.98 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.