On January 25, at Winter Institute 11, Civic Economics and the American Booksellers Association released a groundbreaking new study, “Amazon and Empty Storefronts,” which details the overall negative impact that Amazon has had on Main Street retailers and jobs, and the communities in which they are located, across the country.
While Amazon generally receives substantial subsidies and tax breaks from states and municipalities for opening warehouses staked on the premise that these warehouses will create thousands of jobs, the national results are quite the opposite. Even counting all the jobs in Amazon distribution centers, Amazon sales produced a net national loss of 135,973 retail jobs, and the study showed that a total of more than $1 billion in revenue is lost to state and local governments.
“This unprecedented study makes abundantly clear the deleterious effects on the American economy resulting from Amazon’s strategy of retail dominance,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “It’s our hope that the facts included in this report will help policymakers and the public better understand the need for more diversity in the marketplace and help them recognize the potential long-term costs of the loss of healthy local economies.” (For the complete study, executive summary, or individualized state summaries, click here.)
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