• Amazon is America's largest *clothes* retailer - selling more clothes than Walmart.
  
• The Wall Street Journal has periodically reported on Amazon's plans for department stores; these plans remain very secretive and, according to the WSJ, may change.
  
• Described as being similar to the The Gap, the Amazon department stores are tentatively expected to open in San Francisco, Calif. and Columbus, Ohio.
  
• Why It Matters: Retail sales data show the American consumer continues to shop, despite the obstacles in the economy. Will physical stores complement and/or increase Amazon's dominance? TBD.

Inside Amazon’s Department Store Plans: High-Tech Dressing Rooms, Its Own Apparel Brands

Interesting excerpt: Amazon wants to see if the potential department stores can improve the brand recognition of its apparel while addressing some of the irritants of both online and bricks-and-mortar clothes shopping, they said.

One idea that has been tested is for customers to scan QR codes of items they want to try on by using a smartphone app and for associates in the store to gather the items and place them in fitting rooms, the people said.

Once there, customers could ask for more items using a touch screen, which might be capable of recommending additional clothing based on the pieces shoppers liked. The rooms could use sliding doors for associates to bring more clothes without seeing shoppers, the people said. Robots or other forms of automation could eventually be deployed in the stores, one of the people said.

The plans aren’t completed and could change, they said.