The news release specifically mentions “North America” and not just the United States, so there are several Canadian cities I could see vying for this. Vancouver is very close to Seattle but has the problem of sky high real estate prices, so I don’t think it would necessarily be in the running. Toronto is also quite expensive, but more reasonable and more distant geographically, which gives it that Central / Eastern North American appeal. Canadian cities also mean Canadian dollar salaries, which are cheaper for a US firm.
I’m biased in that I think Montreal would be a great fit. Reasonable real estate prices, a lot of tech talent (working mostly in the game and special effects industries right now, for the most part), and it provides access to European growth. Lots of universities from which to draw young, fresh talent, too. Of course it has language laws that would affect US workers who relocated and would mandate their kids going to school in French if they choose the public system. That, and the city infrastructure is aging poorly and will need significant investment and improvement over the next 10 - 20 years. Montreal and Quebec have notoriously been very good with tax breaks for the movie and gaming industries. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get competitive in a bid to Amazon.
I can’t help but think a lot of this has to do with the current state of affairs here in Seattle. Lots of articles/opinions recently about how Seattle is becoming an Amazon ‘company town’,how their tech workers are killing the culture of the city and driving up costs (housing) for the rest of us. Various proposals have been floated to deal with the problems.
I’m guessing the folks at Amazon feel the city has too much leverage over them, and are looking to start mitigating some of that. We’ve seen it happen with Boeing- this is the same pattern.
They’re simply running out of room. SLU is almost all accounted for (what empty lots are around currently are all in the planning stages) and Amazon is talking about another 50K workers. The infrastructure can’t support that either. Facebooks largest office outside of Silicon Valley is on Dexter, and they’re expanding. Google is building a third Seattle outpost on Mercer. Expedia is moving to Interbay (which means going through Mercer).
I think it’s zoned differently is the reason. It’s mainly industrial, and attempts to change that meet with strong resistance from the Port of Seattle.
I’d love to see Amazon go to Detroit. Between an influx of university students coming from University of Michigan / Michigan State / etc., cheap housing prices, and a rapidly improving city overall, it might be a great fit. There are a bunch of startups opening up offices there too.
So I finally got to Whole Foods post Amazon change. God lord it was busy. It certainly fired up the previously tepid customer base around here. I look forward to seeing more changes they make. It’s the closest store to my house, but not one I frequented due to cost and in-house brands.
Amazon has started offering Whole Foods stuff online as part of Amazon Fresh in the UK. But the selection is rubbish. Almost nothing actually fresh, really, just a whole bunch of faddish packaged nonsense. A shame really, as I was hoping I might be able to have fresh artichokes delivered.
The discount department store is starting to accept returns of Amazon orders at 10 of what will eventually be 82 of its Chicago and Los Angeles stores. Kohl’s has also begun unveiling mini Amazon shops in some its locations, where customers will be able to try out and purchase gadgets like the Amazon Echo and Kindle.
For Kohl’s, the moves amount to a risky bet that the additional customer traffic resulting from the deal will outweigh the downside of strengthening Amazon, which has increasingly become a threat to every mid-market and low-price department store.
In an interview with Fortune, Kohl’s soon-to-be CEO Michelle Gass defended the move. “We’re going through one of, if not the, most transformational times in retail, and we have to really think differently,” she said. “The retail market is big so there is plenty of room for Amazon and Kohl’s to co-exist.”
It would be nice if Amazon handled clothes better. Not a ton of Prime stock, sizing and coloring are often a nightmare to sort via, esp. in niche categories, and it’s overwhelmed with Chinese knockoffs and no-name brands, or stuff from other retailers with crazy shipping and/or return policies. . .
If you’re looking for a pair of 38x32 Wrangler jeans, you’re probably fine. If you’re my very persnickety gf hunting for the perfect dress to wear to her mom’s wedding that says, “I’m showing you up, you bitchy old sow, but not badly enough that you can call me on it,” not so much.
So, in any case, if this is an opportunity for them to gain some valuable experience, increase the size of their stock/inventory, or get a better handle on things like fakes and return policy shenanigans, huzzah!
Is Kohl’s really a perfect wedding dress sort of store? Assuming you aren’t an inbred hillbilly.
I don’t think internet shopping will ever consume boutique clothing and shoe stores, selling high-end personal products where fit and finish are primary concerns and price secondary at most. But Kohl’s isn’t that.
Well, it’s not a wedding dress, it’s a dress to wear to a very lowkey wedding (it being my basically mother-in-law’s 4th). But no, Kohl’s isn’t exactly high fashion. I wouldn’t say no to them moving in that direction over time, though. Amazon, that is. Kohl’s just moving toward the dustbin of history :)
Even if Amazon is going to destroy all B+M department stores, some will get destroyed sooner than others. If Kohl’s didn’t do this, one of their competitors* would, and then where would they be?
* Uhhh…TJ Maxx maybe? Burlington? I think like half those brands are all owned by the same parent companies.
