I’ve never minced words about my lack of enthusiasm for Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), what with its underwhelming earnings results relative to revenue and egregious spending.

So, yes, I’ve never been shy about calling out Amazon for its dumb ideas, such as drone delivery, which will just end badly. Or Amazon’s program to hire Uber-style contract delivery drivers.

I’ve also voiced concern with the way the market generally puts Amazon stock on a pedestal, giving the company a pass on its limited profitability that it would give to few — if any — other companies.

On the flipside, I’m not an Amazon stock hater just for the sake of hatin’, nor am I wielding a chip on my shoulder to bash AMZN. If Amazon has a good business idea, I have no problem saying so.

That said, opening 400 brick-and-mortar bookstores is a brilliant move.

An Amazon Bookstore?

Just for the record, this didn’t come straight from the horse’s mouth. General Growth Properties (GGP) CEO Sandeep Mathrani let it slip during the General Growth earnings call:

“You’ve got Amazon opening brick-and-mortar bookstores and their goal is to open, as I understand, 300 to 400.”

Mathrani would know (even if he wasn’t supposed to say anything), as Amazon would be apt to check out some of General Growth Properties’ malls as potential sites. Besides, the 300 to 400 units is an oddly specific range for something that’s just a rumor at this point in time.

So let’s assume there’s more than a little truth to it.

It wouldn’t be completely alien for Amazon.com to enter the physical bookstore market. The company actually opened one in Seattle late last year. In retrospect, that store looks like a pilot.

The rumor was met with a mostly unenthused response from current owners of Amazon stock — AMZN shares fell another 3% Wednesday — who were quick to point out that the company’s core competency lies in e-commerce, and that brick-and-mortar retailing is a dying breed.

There’s actually a rather big upside, however, should Amazon.com decide to make the rumors a reality.

Crazy? Like a Fox

The struggle for brick-and-mortar retailing isn’t a myth — just look at industry-leader Barnes & Noble (BKS). But Amazon could make a bookstore work under one condition: if it understands that bookstores aren’t about selling books.

Modern bookstores are entertainment venues, philosophically speaking. Meaning patrons visit bookstores for something to do as much as they visit them to buy books. Indeed, it wouldn’t be over-the-top to suggest a successful bookstore in 2016 is one that serves as a lifestyle venue, supporting the one technology that’s becoming the centerpiece of most of our lives — mobile Internet.

It’s not just a mere matter of being able to access the web on a smartphone. Most of us live most aspects of our lives (one way or another) through our phones, which allow us access to banking, music, social media, work, maps, television, restaurants reservations, news, games, etc.

In other words, the line between offline and online is blurred. With a few hundred stores, Amazon would simply be meeting consumers in the middle, approaching them from the opposite direction of most companies. That is, while other companies look to improved online presence as support for their brick and mortar operation, Amazon.com is looking to develop a brick and mortar presence to support its online and digital efforts.

And yes, such venues would be a perfect solution to the dropoff/pickup problem Amazon.com has tinkered with of late, utilizing storage lockers that shoppers would visit to pick up a parcel. Now bookstores could serve as a package dropoff/pickup point … likely with free shipping.

And of course, it would only make sense to see what else the store’s got to offer while you’re in there.

So while Amazon still has plenty of things it needs to work on, a network of bookstores could turn into a surprisingly strong means of facilitating its online and digital business.

Retailing is notoriously difficult and low-margin, but unlike most other retailers, Amazon wouldn’t have to turn a huge profit (or any profit) as a retailer. The stores could simply serve as a funnel, garnering new omni-media customers and deepening the relationship with others.

It doesn’t necessarily make Amazon stock buy-worthy today, but it’s certainly not a reason to sell it.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.