This is your host, The Badger, providing you with the top Amazon news stories this week. Welcome to Amazon Weekly Digest!
This week, Google has cancelled its Lunar X space race, Lebron James becomes the youngest player to join the 30,000 point club, and many officials are still trying to bring Amazon’s new headquarters inside their city limits, including Ad Badger’s home: Austin, Texas.
The 5 billion dollar building would bring over 50,000 jobs to the Texas capital. That would almost double the 59,681 employees in Austin’s largest 100 tech companies. Austin has become a hotbed for tech companies with Dell being the largest tech employer with 13,000, Apple with 6,000, and IBM with over 5,000. Oracle recently built a massive cloud campus on the east side, bringing tech careers to Austin. Amazon already has a 900-employee presence in Austin, so why not tack on another 50k?
The Texas Tribune reported, “In a brief statement Thursday morning, Austin Mayor Steve Adler recognized that ‘mobility and affordability’ are among the city’s greatest challenges in attracting businesses like Amazon, and said the city council is focused on addressing those two concerns.”
Some cities have offered incentives to persuade Amazon to enter their municipality (some offered to rename their city “Amazon”), but Austin officials have said that none were included in their bid.
Sorry Amazon sellers, Amazon seems to be raising fees for third-party sellers in the apparel niche, but lowering fees for jewelry sellers effective April 15. However, other niche sellers shouldn’t feel left out because Amazon plans to raise fees on February 22 for every item category.
A recent study by Sperling’s BestPlaces says Atlanta, Georgia has the best shot at becoming the spot for the new Amazon headquarters. The firm already predicted 15 of the 20 finalists of Amazon’s HQ2 shortlist.
Yes you read that right. CNBC stole yogurt from Amazon’s brand new Amazon Go store that opened on Monday and yes, Amazon let them keep the yogurt due to “the extremely rare error.”
As Amazon’s pharmacy team expands, some speculate it could open the door for suppliers to sell to Amazon customers and raise the price for drugs due to increased competition.
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