Will Amazon open actual shops?

It is rumoured that Amazon is planning to open some actual bricks and mortar stores.

The rationale behind this is that now Amazon has extended its ranges in to almost every category they are looking in to the "click and collect" concept

The Times reports that 18% of Argos' website orders are collected from stores rather than delivered and it predicts that up to 50% of television sales will be click and collect in the run up to Xmas

Now that Amazon has moved well beyond its original CD/book concept it faces customer dissatisfaction with people waiting in or missing larger deliveries. Physical stores would allow customers the choice to pick up items which would allow them compete more effectively with their rivals

The only other internet based retailer we can think of who has moved on to the high st is Lastminute.com who have kiosk sized stores at key locations such as train stations and airports

Perhaps as the recession continues to cull high street retailers their spaces might be taken up by internet shops. That would be a bit of a turn up!