Hundreds of shoppers waiting in line to go to an Amazon subsidiary pop-up shop in Edgartown last week were met with a group of protesters who urged them to shop at locally-owned businesses.
Shop Bop, an Amazon-affiliated clothing retailer, kicked off its three-day pop-up business Friday inside the Sydney Hotel on Winter street. The pop-up generated massive interest in young shoppers, including several influencers who went to social media to post about the event.
But it also stirred anger in Island shopkeepers who worry about the future of the Island shopping hub.
Annette Luna, the co-owner of men’s clothing store Dune and the Boneyard surf shop, raised her concerns with the town about allowing pop-up businesses at a select board meeting last week, and was one of the protesters outside the shop on Friday.
She said that Shop Bop’s goal is to use the Vineyard’s brand to acquire Island shoppers.
“The ultimate goal of this marketing event is customer acquisition,” she said. “When a 100 per cent online retailer comes to the Island for three days, they don’t need to make money. It’s marketing dollars, and the long-term goal is to convert brick-and-mortar shoppers to online customers.”
Untameable Gallery owner Lucy Dahl stood outside the pop-up holding a sign that read “Don’t come to the Island if you don’t care about Islanders.”
Geno Courtney, the owner of several businesses in town, wondered if this could lead to more and more short-term businesses.
“Where does this stop?” he said.
After several shop owners and the Edgartown Board of Trade spoke out about the increasing number of pop-ups, Shop Bop recommended several Island businesses on social media, and gave shoppers on Friday a complimentary tote bag if they came in showing a $25 receipt from an Island business.
Anne Hajjar, the co-owner of the Sydney Hotel, told the town last week that she believed the pop-up could bring in more business to downtown, giving a boost to other businesses and eateries.
“It will just bring people into Edgartown who are then going to go to the other shops to shop, they are going to go to the other restaurants to buy coffee or lunch,” she said at the July 6 select board meeting.
Hillary Needleman was one of the shoppers in line Friday. She has been a longtime Shop Bop customer and wanted to tour the store in person.
“I love Shop Bop,” she said. “They curate all the clothing really well, and I just thought it’d be cool to check it out. It looks like they have a lot of nice accessories and sunglasses in there.”
Ms. Needleman said she understood the concern from the protestors, but felt like both could co-exist.
“I see where they’re coming from,” she said. “I also think this is a small pop-up. Shop Bop doesn’t have any intention of taking over any business. I’ve been coming to this Island for over 30 years. I am the number one supporter of these small businesses, but at the same time, this is offering something different.”
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