The robin’s-egg-blue lockers shared a self-service screen and displayed the e-commerce giant’s ubiquitous smile logo.
It was easy to predict what happened next: Someone tried to get into the lockers.
The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Photos of the lockers werewidely shared on TwitterandReddit.
Businesses have also had second thoughts after striking deals to host the lockers.
The Chicago conflict taps into larger objections to corporate intrusion onto public property.
Corporate names have been added to subway stations andhigh school sports stadiums.
Even the National Parks Service has ponderednaming benches and interior spaces after corporate donors.
Transit agencies cover buses and fill train stations with ads.
Still, activists and civic planners question whether parks should be added to the list of corporate logo-filled locations.
Most locker placements are uncontroversial, and lockers at bus depots and 7-Elevens rarely raise eyebrows.
Nevertheless, an awkwardly located locker plays into a broader image problem Amazon has had in managing local relations.
But Av Zammit, an Amazon spokesman, said in a statement that the company values community feedback.
Amazon spokesperson Alyssa Bronikowski provided further comment.
Amazonlaunched its lockers 10 years agoin Seattle, New York state and the Washington, DC, area.
As of 2019, Amazon said it hadinstalled lockers in more than 900 cities and townsin the US.
Amazon Locker Plus locations offer self-service kiosks as well as an Amazon attendant to help.
Walmart installed parcel lockers in its own stores, butrecently began phasing them out.
The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The companystruck a similar arrangementin Johnson County, Kansas, with local 7-Eleven stores.
7-Eleven didn’t respond to a request for information on how it handles the safety of outdoor lockers.
Neither partnership has prompted complaints about safety or vandalism.
Still, the placement of Amazon lockers hasn’t always gone smoothly.
Few installations have gone as poorly as a recent placement in Chicago’s Brands Park.
Community members quickly objected.
A petition calling for the removal of the lockers appeared on Change.org andracked up more than 13,000 signatures.
(The goal was 15,000.)
A few things that didnt make it in the article.
Still, he wondered how no one thought of that concern to begin with.
“you might credit Amazon for a lot of innovation in their logistical delivery system,” Arias said.
But the initial installation showed “a lack of understanding of the local community.”
