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    Independent bookstore owner invests in online bookstore famous for destroying independent bookstores.

    Jonny Diamond

    June 5, 2020, 12:29pm

    Nancy Bass Wyden, owner of New York City’s Strand Bookstore—one of the largest independent bookstores in the country—purchased stock in Amazon three times between April 6 and May 1, totaling somewhere between $115,000 and $250,000, according to Barron’s. If you’ll recall this was a time period which saw the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of America, including small retail across the country, and during which Amazon made so much money it set CEO Jeff Bezos on a fast-track to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.

    Bass Wyden said of her decision: “As a small-business owner trying to maintain operations during difficult times, it was necessary for me to diversify my personal portfolio and invest in stocks that are performing.”

    Last July, noted lefty theorist Steve Mnuchin said this of Amazon: “…they’ve destroyed the retail industry across the United States.”

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