There’s at least one mayor not jumping up and down to woo Amazon’s second headquarters to town: Bob McCaslin, chief executive of Bentonville, Arkansas, home to Amazon’s primary retail competitor Wal-Mart. It just isn’t a good fit, he said.
McCaslin said he was initially intrigued by the idea of having both the world’s biggest brick-and-mortar retailer and largest online retailer in his small town in northwestern Arkansas. Just imagine the potential corporate softball team rivalries. But he quickly realized they weren’t a match for the urban setting Amazon desires.
“For a second I thought it would be great, but then I drilled down and realized it just wouldn’t be possible,” McCaslin said. “They need 50,000 employees. That’s the entire population of our town.”
Don’t take it personally, Jeff Bezos. Tulsa, Oklahoma, still wants you and it’s just a two-hour drive from Bentonville.
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