Amazon Opens Search for Location of Second Headquarters

Amazon.com said last week that it will spend more than $5 billion to build another headquarters in North America to house as many as 50,000 employees. Since that announcement, more than 20 cities have applied, according to an article in the The Business Journal. Cities have a little more than a month to apply, and they must do so through a special website. Amazon said it will make a decision on the new location next year. In explaining why it was holding a public process, Amazon said that it wanted “to find a city that is excited to work with us and where our customers, employees and the community can all benefit.”

Total Retail’s Take: Amazon’s announcement highlights how fast the e-commerce giant is expanding, and its need to find fresh talent to fuel that growth. While many cities may have applied to be the site of Amazon's new headquarters, the company’s requirements can rule out some places. For example, Amazon wants to be near a metropolitan area with more than 1 million people; be able to attract top technical talent; be within 45 minutes of an international airport; have direct access to mass transit and be able to expand that headquarters to as much as 8 million square feet in the next decade. That’s about the same size as its current home in Seattle, which has 33 buildings, 23 restaurants and houses 40,000 employees.