Slashdot Mirror
Seattle Bookstores Embrace Amazon.com
An anonymous reader writes "Even though many independent bookstores around the country blame their closing on competition from Amazon.com, bookstores in Seattle are booming thanks to Amazon's growth. It turns out many of the thousands of new workers at their downtown headquarters are avid readers who prefer shopping at the local stores. '"A lot of our customers work at Amazon," said Tracy Taylor, the general manager at the Elliott Bay Book Company, one of the city's largest independent booksellers. The store, about a mile from Amazon headquarters, last year earned what Ms. Taylor called the "first substantial profit" in almost 20 years, enough to even pay employee bonuses.'"
You do realize the sales rep was probably being honest?
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$7.25/hr does not qualify you for welfare unless you have kids, probably several of them. It's not even below the poverty line for an individual. I can assure you, I've made as little as $10,900 in a year and did not qualify for any forms of government assistance -- not welfare, not foodstamps, not anything.
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Plenty of other countries have a higher minimum wage and low unemployment. e.g. Australia's minimum wage is AUD 16.37/h or AUD 20.30/h for causals. Unemployment is around 5% and unemployment benefits start at about AUD 250p/w. Which means you'd probably be better of living in Australia and looking for work than being employed on minimum wage in the USA.