MELBOURNE, Australia — When Borders opened in 2002 across the street from Readings, Melbourne’s best-known independent bookseller, retail experts predicted catastrophe for the musty old shop competing with the shiny new chain store.

Instead, Australians rejected Borders right into bankruptcy.

Starbucks has also failed miserably here in a country where cafe loyalty is king. And when it comes to Amazon, which has announced it will open its warehouse-based online sales juggernaut soon in Australia, many book-loving Australians are not shy about hoping for another epitaph.

“I want to beat them,” said Mark Rubbo, Readings’ co-owner, discussing Amazon as he stared across Lygon Street to where Borders used to be. “I don’t like the idea of this monolith devouring everything.”

How much of the world’s shopping habits Amazon will control worldwide is a question confronting retailers of all kinds. The “everything store,” as the site is known, now stocks roughly 400 million products, from toothpaste and televisions to sex toys, and several Australian retail chains have already seen their stock prices decline since Amazon announced its plans in April.