The Wall Street Journal's Greg Bensinger quotes Sandeep Mathrani, a chief executive of a company that owns malls nationwide, as saying that Amazon could be opening as many as 400 brick-and-mortar stores in the US. It's just a rumor at this point, but it makes sense.

This, of course, is bad news for booksellers everywhere. University Book Store's manager Pam Cady recently admitted that the new Amazon Books in University Village has eaten into her store's profits, and other booksellers have expressed concern about Amazon Books opening near them. Independent booksellers and Barnes & Noble have peacefully coexisted for a decade now, but Amazon has a proven strategy of picking off brick-and-mortar bookstores. They would absolutely target pre-existing bookstores with their new outlets.

If you're coming to this story late, here's a little background: I wrote about my experience with Amazon Books shortly after it opened. Additionally, the Seattle Review of Books is proud to be the co-sponsor (along with Elliott Bay Book Company) of the world's first reverse-showrooming of Amazon Books.