Amazon seems to be the centre of a number of rumours that the online giant does nothing to scotch, yet most of those reported by Apex Insight seem to turn out correct. After opening a new bookstore in Seattle, there have been a number of rumours that the company is looking to open a chain of them.

Industry analysts have been watching the company closely to see if there are hints that it may open more after its pilot in Seattle. This week Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of the mall operator General Growth Properties, told journalists during an earnings call that he believed that Amazon was set to open between 300-400 bookstores across the USA. He then softened his statement by pointing out that his comments should not be taken as representative of Amazon’s plans.

The industry magazine Internet Retailer then reported on the 4 February that it had been informed by “a real estate executive with knowledge of the plans” that the company is intending to open book stores “in at least 10 major markets” in sites near indoor shopping malls. This would be a significantly smaller move than Mathrani suggested may be the case, but has reaffirmed in Amazon watchers’ minds that something of this kind is set to happen.

Amazon never confirms or denies rumours of these kind until it is ready to make an announcement. There has been nothing on the rumours surrounding its air freight, sea freight or overland freight business despite people being certain of these projects taking place. The company is known to be stretching its revenues to the limit, investing nearly everything it earns, on a number of projects that could end up with Amazon being the company that is ubiquitous the world over with internal freight and delivery operations, as well as it seems the imminent launch of bookstores around the world. What next?!