Amazon may be planning a brick-and-mortar bookstore in a Seattle mall

Evidence suggests that Amazon is planning a brick-and-mortar bookstore in University Village, a shopping mall in Seattle.

Shelf Awareness, a newsletter about the book industry, reports that Amazon has been rumored to be looking at a spot in the mall ever since Barnes & Noble vacated in 2012.

Now, a mysterious tenant named "Ann Bookstore" is working on a vacant spot in the mall that used to be owned by a restaurant, according to city work permits. All of the major bookstores in Seattle told the publication they're not planning a new store in that mall.

In addition, Amazon has been approaching booksellers at other bookstores in Seattle about a "new initiative," offering pay of up to $18 an hour.

Geekwire then went sniffing around the site, and talked to a construction worker who had heard through the grapevine that the tenant was Amazon. Geekwire also saw a construction worker holding what looked like an electronic reader.

If Amazon does open a store, it may not only carry physical books - or carry physical books at all. It's possible that Amazon will instead ape the Apple and Microsoft stores located in the same mall and use it as a display room for its Kindle and Fire devices.

Amazon didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.