Amazon Going to Bricks-and-Mortar? (AMZN, BKS, WMT, TGT, AAPL)

Here we go again: the Good E-Reader blog is citing “sources close to the situation” for the story that Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is preparing to open a bricks-and-mortar store in Seattle. The rumored store would not be either bookstores in the mold of Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) or big box outfits like those of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT).

The story is that Amazon would open boutique-style stores, carrying a limited number of “high margin and high-end items.” The flagship items would be Amazon’s Kindle family of e-readers and tablets.

The irony, of course, is that Amazon’s on-line model is killing bricks-and-mortar retailing, so why would the company want to do this? Could be a swipe at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and its hugely successful Apple Stores? After all, Amazon sees the Kindle Fire as a real competitor to Apple’s iPad and maybe it figures to boost sales by going the touchy-feely route. Stranger things have happened.