Photo by Elvis Ripley
Update 5/13: Looks like some South Carolina's legislators thought Amazon was bluffing when the Internet giant said they would pull out of S.C. if the deal they made wasn't honored.
Well, at least that's what our legislators are claiming. In an effort to try and get those 1,200 jobs back, some lawmakers are asking for a re-vote.
Sears leaving Illinois? Maybe coming here?
Due to Sears Holding Corporation's tax breaks and incentives running out they are considering leaving the cash strapped state and are putting out feelers to six states. South Carolina just happens to be one of them. This seems odd considering Governor Haley said that these corporations won't get any special deals that might harm South Carolina's small businesses.
Even stranger is it now appears that Sears is supporting South Carolina's decision to kick Amazon to the curb. This all seems odd from a company looking to leave a state because their tax breaks expired.
Consider this:
Recently, Amazon jumped Walmart as the most-valuable retail brand by the coveted Millward Brown BrandZ Study.
Walmart parent Wal-Mart Stores still has more than 10 times the sales and more than five times the market capitalization of Amazon. But BrandZ's calculation subtracts tangible assets from market value to help estimate brand value. Amazon, with no physical stores, fares well in that process.
Update 4/29 a.m. links; Haley video: This story has been a hot topic all over the state this week. So what's Governor Haley's position?
Originally Gov. Haley said she wasn't taking a stance one way or the other but has come out in support of not giving Amazon the incentives, saying, in part, that the pulling of the deal is part of South Carolina's "fair competitive marketplace to do business."
You can see all of her comments in the YouTube vid up top or here.
Meanwhile The Post and Courier has a follow article with a nice rundown on how and why local reps voted; read that here.
- For a list of Amazon's distribution centers (including closed ones) head here.
Update 4/28 a.m. who voted: The South Carolina Legislature website has a tally of who voted for and against the amendment. None of the Myrtle Beach representatives voted for the amendment. Construction has reportedly stopped at the Amazon work site.
Hat tip to Chris Duran for the voting link.
First Report 4/27: Voted down 71-47, the proposed amendment would give online mega-retailer Amazon.com exemption from being required to charge sales tax to South Carolina customers. The trade off was the creation of an estimated 1200 jobs that were likely above average in terms of salary and benefits.
The bill is still up for the Senate's consideration, but it's not looking good for Amazon. FITSNews has more information about the vote along with their usual colorful commentary. Read it here.
