Amazon, one of the world’s largest and most influential technological companies, continues to grow. Founder, Jeff Bezos, created the company in 1994, with the headquarters of this thriving company standing in Seattle, Washington. Although it started as a small business that sold books online, Bezos’ company has grown so much in these past twenty years, he now has a net worth of over $100 billion, making him the richest man in the world. News of an upcoming second headquarters for the company has excited many city goers and urban residents recently, because of the projected economy growth.
While this company continues to develop, plans for a second headquarters have been announced, and a list of twenty possible cities has been made. Among the shortlist of cities that might serve as a home for this headquarters, three are located in the Washington, D.C., area. This is a promising perspective seeing as the economic growth this new headquarters will potentially have will definitely have a lasting impression on surrounding areas. Amazon continues to survey and analyze the cities that could possibly host the new headquarters, in order to understand which city will thrive the most, can handle these new jobs that will be created, and which need the growth that the new headquarters will induce.
Amazon has also opened a no checkout supermarket in Seattle. This new store, called Amazon Go, insures the customer never gets stuck in a long line with heavy use of surveillance to insure the system is operating smoothly. The new technology automatically detects the items taken off and put back on the shelves, and then places them in a virtual cart for each customer. The customer is then charged on their Amazon account after exiting the store. This is the first no-checkout convenience store to ever exist, and although they do not have cashiers, they make up for these jobs by hiring more chefs, bakers, and stockers to maintain the store in order to keep the products fresh.
Amazon is such an influential company that many high schoolers feel the impact of the company. Junior, Maddie Urian, said, “Personally, I love Amazon. I can order something and it’s on my doorstep two days later. I really hope the headquarters is in the D.C. area.” Senior, Peyton Manfre, agreed stating, “I got a free trial for Amazon and loved how easy it was. My family ended up renewing the subscription because of how convenient it was.” If students have not felt the impact of Amazon in their everyday lives, many have heard about the great aspects of the company. Senior, Madison Williams, said, “I have heard about how great Amazon is and I think my family might get a prescription. It’s supposed to be cheaper and so much easier to shop with.”
The general consensus of people in the area seems to be one of excitement. Amazon continues to grow and develop as a powerful company with over 500,000 employees and a profit of $136 billion in revenue for 2016. With the possible future establishment in the D.C. area, only time will tell if this will have a lasting impact for local customers and employees alike.