Amazon moves to bricks and mortar

NEW YORK — The Wall Street Journal is reporting that plans are in the works for a physical Amazon store in midtown Manhattan. The site, set to open in time for the holiday rush, would function as a miniature warehouse, keeping a limited inventory for same-day shipping, and servicing returns and exchanges, and processing the ever-increasingly popular “buy online, pick up in store” orders. The move isn’t without its risks for Amazon, which gets to keep above some of the operating headaches of traditional retail stores, but according to one Wells Fargo analyst, it’s “about marketing the Amazon brand.”