The odds are pretty good that you or someone you know has bought something off of Amazon since the company was founded in 1994. In fact, as of February 2017, Amazon has over 300 million users — that’s almost as many as the entire population of the US — and nearly 80% of all of its users buy something from the company at least once per month and 20% at least once per week. The company’s most recent acquisition, Whole Foods Market (WFM), has made quite the splash and has caught the interest (and potential business) of many Millennials.

Amazon is a tech and retail powerhouse, with no end to how many coals they’ll add to their metaphorical empire fire. However, there is a big downside to this: the death of many other well-to-do companies who simply cannot keep up with this infrastructure. Here are the 5 main companies that Amazon is very close to putting out of business…or at the very least, acquiring for themselves:

1. Barnes & Noble (BKS) – Many forget that Amazon started as an online bookstore in 1995, but today it is the world leader in book sales. The Kindle, which launched in 2007, is now the dominant player in the book market and the e-book market. In 2014, Forbes estimated that Kindle makes up 19.5% of all book sales globally, and according to Morgan Stanley, Amazon has sold $5 billion in Kindle devices. So, therefore, it’s a tall order for Barnes and Noble to keep up. They’ve been holding on more so than other book retailers with the development of the Nook, but even that won’t likely be enough to save them. 

2. Macy’s (M) – For many, it doesn’t make sense to buy things like clothes and shoes without first trying them on. Unfortunately for Macy’s, that doesn’t mean that they’ll take away sales from Amazon. Generally, people can try things on, look up the price on Amazon, and get the same product for a fraction of the price. The same goes with bags, jewelry, perfumes, etc. — if you can find it in a department store as large and strong as Macy’s, you can buy it on Amazon for far cheaper. 

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