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Amazon is reportedly looking to further its plans in the physical retail space with a bid for a number of RadioShack stores.
American electronics retailer RadioShack filed for bankruptcy recently, placing a number of companies on alert to scoop up a share of its 4,000 retail sites situated throughout the US.
One of those companies, according to Bloomberg, is Amazon.
Sources claim that Amazon wants to purchase some of the RadioShack sites to bolster its physical outlet operations. The online retailer would apparently use the sites to showcase its hardware, such as its Kindle range and its Amazon Fire TV set-top-box.
The new sites would also serve as local pick-up and drop-off points for Amazon orders, thus helping to bolster the company's lucrative Prime subscription service in its home country.
Amazon has long had designs on expanding its operation into physical retail locations, if reports are to be believed. Despite the weight of rumour, however, we still haven't seen the company open its first bricks and mortar shop.
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If Amazon means to use RadioShack's misfortune to its advantage, it will face stiff competition. American mobile network Sprint is said to be looking to buy as much as half of RadioShack's crumbling retail empire to help push its phones.
As the report points out, if Amazon is successful in its bid, it would place Amazon into direct competition with Apple, which has set the pace with its own showroom efforts in recent years.