Posted in: Comics | Tagged: amazon

Comic Store Objects to Amazon Business Sponsorship in Santa Barbara

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2020 08:00:09 -0600

Amazon opened new offices last month on State Street, Santa Barbara. And the locals have mixed feelings. The new headquarters will be employing around 300 research and development staff, working on Alexa and plenty of them are British immigrants from Amazon's Cambridge Development Centre, escaping Brexit. But it is Amazon's decision to pay $10,000 to sponsor the monthly arts and culture event 1st Thursday that has ruffled most feathers, an event that local businesses pay into. Ones who feel that Amazon is the cause of all their problems, including a record of empty storefronts in the local area.

Comic book store manager Bob Ficarra of Metro Entertainment told the local paper, The Independent, that "How out of touch do you have to be to turn a locals-only event into a marketing tool for our biggest competition? I've owned Metro Entertainment for 29 years, and this very well could be the biggest slap in the face I've ever seen. Why am I paying quarterly taxes to an organization that is actively working against and hurting my local business?"

However, they also quote City Councilmember Randy Rowse saying its a welcome investment and that the Amazon employees will be participating in the local economy. And most amusingly, "It's not like they built a statue downtown and said, 'This is George Amazon. Everyone pray to him.'"

I mean, don't give Jeff Bezos ideas, Randy. The article also mentions that local tech firm Sonos is planning to sue Amazon over allegations that designs were stolen in the making of the Aleza speakers. Could make those local business meetings even frostier.