Speculation is building that Amazon could be eyeing an acquisition of another major brick-and-mortar retailer. Reports have suggested that it might acquire Macy’s or Kohl’s, both of which just reported less-than-stellar quarters.

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Last week, Barron’s wondered if the Seattle-based e-commerce mega-corporation is considering a purchase of Wisconsin-based Kohl’s. The department store is already partnering with Amazon and debuted new in-store Amazon shops that sell Amazon-brand products like the Echo, Fire TV, Kindle and more. It is also serving as one of two stores that will now accept Amazon returns free. The other? New Amazon subsidiary Whole Foods. 

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According to Barron’s, selling its own brand products inside Kohl’s stores could be part of a larger strategy in brick-and-mortar retail for Amazon: 

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Bernard Sosnick, who follows Kohl’s for MADISON GLOBAL PARTNERS, thinks Amazon is testing the merits of owning a retailer that can build private-label products to showcase Amazon devices and services. The holiday season will test the theory further, with a fuller answer emerging by mid- to late-2018, Sosnick says. If the partnership succeeds, he thinks Kohl’s will boost sales and even improve merchandise and marketing. Kohl’s has more than 1,100 stores in 49 states.

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In the Barron’s piece, Sosnick added, “We think Bezos has something up his sleeve with potentially profound consequences for retailing.”

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So, is making a play for Kohl’s what’s up Bezos’ rolled-up sleeve? Or is there another major retailer on Amazon’s radar screen?

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A new report suggests that if Amazon’s is venturing further into brick-and-mortar that Macy’s would be the target. This suggestion is nothing new. But the timing is interesting, given the mounting speculation about Amazon’s interest in a major retailer.

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Here in Seattle, Amazon is already moving in on Macy’s territory, leasing the six floors above the downtown department store at 300 Pine St. Symbolically, Amazon bringing its weight down upon Macy’s is almost too on-the-nose, as it continues to crush brick-and-mortar retail.

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The 2017 holiday shopping season is projecting to be another one in which Amazon deals a losing hand to brick-and-mortar retailers like Macy’s and grows its e-commerce market share. And Amazon is not only selling more, it’s hiring more for the holidays, with 120,000 seasonal employees in 2017 to Macy’s industry-leading-but-still-declining 80,000.

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Amazon winning the retail war is inevitable. The only question left, seemingly, is how it will happen.

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