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103-564: The NIFL, based in Lafayette, Louisiana , was founded by Carolyn Shiver. The league started operations in 2001, with many teams coming from Indoor Football League being bought the previous year and folding operations. In 2002, the league added in the teams from the Indoor Professional Football League . 2003 was the most successful year for the league as 24 teams played a mostly complete schedule, with few cancellations. Before

206-728: A self-driving car division; Kuiper Systems , a satellite Internet provider; and Amazon Lab126 , a computer hardware R&D provider. Other subsidiaries include Ring , Twitch , IMDb , and Whole Foods Market . Its acquisition of Whole Foods in August 2017 for US$ 13.4 billion substantially increased its market share and presence as a physical retailer . Amazon also distributes a variety of downloadable and streaming content through its Amazon Prime Video , MGM+ , Amazon Music , Twitch, Audible and Wondery units. It publishes books through its publishing arm, Amazon Publishing , film and television content through Amazon MGM Studios , including

309-543: A toxic work culture , censorship , tax avoidance , and anti-competitive practices . Amazon was founded on July 5, 1994, by Jeff Bezos after he relocated from New York City to Bellevue, Washington , near Seattle , to operate an online bookstore. Bezos chose the Seattle area for its abundance of technical talent from Microsoft and the University of Washington , as well as its smaller population for sales tax purposes and

412-488: A 10-year agreement with Amazon, valued at $ 50 million per year plus a cut of sales, under which Toys "R" Us would be the exclusive supplier of toys and baby products on the service, and the chain's website would redirect to Amazon's Toys & Games category. In 2004, Toys "R" Us sued Amazon, claiming that because of a perceived lack of variety in Toys "R" Us stock, Amazon had knowingly allowed third-party sellers to offer items on

515-494: A co-branded service. Borders pulled out of the arrangement in 2007, with plans to also launch its own online store. On October 18, 2011, Amazon.com announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to many popular comics, including Superman , Batman , Green Lantern , The Sandman , and Watchmen . The partnership has caused well-known bookstores like Barnes & Noble to remove these titles from their shelves. In November 2013, Amazon announced

618-495: A fixed price. Publishers can sign up as affiliates and receive a commission for referring customers to Amazon by placing links to Amazon on their websites if the referral results in a sale. Worldwide, Amazon has "over 900,000 members" in its affiliate programs. In the middle of 2014, the Amazon Affiliate Program is used by 1.2% of all websites and it is the second most popular advertising network after Google Ads . It

721-579: A global chat on the livestream. In 2019 Amazon launched an integrated platform into the Amazon website and application . In 2023 roughly a billion total viewers watch Amazon Live across the United States and India. The platform has also been integrated into Amazon Freevee and Amazon Prime Video . Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on

824-551: A guide of general interest for the customer and not definitive sales information for publishers—we assume you have this information regularly from your distribution sources In November 2015, Amazon opened a physical Amazon Books store in University Village in Seattle . The store was 5,500 square feet and prices for all products matched those on its website. Amazon opened its tenth physical book store in 2017; media speculation at

927-641: A large presence in Lafayette have included or currently include Albertsons , Amazon , Brookshire Grocery Company , CGI , First Horizon Bank , JP Morgan Chase , LUSFiber , the Ochsner Health System , Petroleum Helicopters International , Perficient , and Rouses Markets . Among these corporations, the Tennessee -based First Horizon Bank absorbed IberiaBank (a former Louisiana-based banking institution) in 2020. Other notable corporations stimulating

1030-466: A metered pay-as-you-go basis. These cloud computing web services provide distributed computing processing capacity and software tools via AWS server farms . As of 2021 Q4, AWS has 33% market share for cloud infrastructure while the next two competitors Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud have 21%, and 10% respectively, according to Synergy Group. Audible is a seller and producer of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming on

1133-869: A notification if it detects something unusual. In January 2023, Amazon announced the launch of RXPass, a prescription drug delivery service. It allows U.S. Amazon Prime members to pay a $ 5 monthly fee for access to 60 medications. The service was launched immediately after the announcement except in states with specific prescription delivery requirements. Beneficiaries of government healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid will not be able to sign up for RXPass. Amazon owns over 100 subsidiaries, including Amazon Web Services , Audible , Diapers.com, Goodreads , IMDb , Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics ), One Medical , Shopbop , Teachstreet, Twitch , Zappos , and Zoox . Bezos separately owns The Washington Post (through Nash Holdings, LLC), Blue Origin , Bezos Expeditions , Altos Labs , and other companies. Amazon Live

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1236-605: A partnership with the United States Postal Service to begin delivering orders on Sundays. The service, included in Amazon's standard shipping rates, initiated in metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and New York because of the high-volume and inability to deliver in a timely way, with plans to expand into Dallas , Houston , New Orleans and Phoenix by 2014. In June 2017, Nike agreed to sell products through Amazon in exchange for better policing of counterfeit goods. This proved unsuccessful and Nike withdrew from

1339-949: A plan was adopted for Jeff Bezos to sell approximately 50 million shares of the company over the next year (the deadline for the entire sales plan is January 31, 2025). The first step was the sale of 12 million shares for about $ 2 billion. On February 26, 2024, Amazon became a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Amazon.com is an e-commerce platform that sells many product lines, including media ( books , movies, music, and software), apparel, baby products, consumer electronics , beauty products , gourmet food, groceries, health and personal care products, industrial & scientific supplies, kitchen items, jewelry , watches, lawn and garden items, musical instruments, sporting goods , tools, automotive items, toys and games, and farm supplies and consulting services . Amazon websites are country-specific (for example, amazon.com for

1442-401: A range of Booths branded products for home delivery in selected areas. In November 2018, Amazon reached an agreement with Apple Inc. to sell selected products through the service, via the company and selected Apple Authorized Resellers. As a result of this partnership, only Apple Authorized Resellers may sell Apple products on Amazon effective January 4, 2019. On November 7, 2024 Amazon

1545-502: A resolution calling for another charter commission to look at amendments to the charter and, if necessary, deconsolidation. The Lafayette Parish Council did not agree to the charter commission proposal. Public works and other services, such as land use and plat review, are operated by the Lafayette Consolidated Government to serve the city of Lafayette and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish, and by contract some of

1648-556: Is Lehigh Valley region's third-largest employer. In August 2019, Amazon applied to have a liquor store in San Francisco , as a means to ship beer and alcohol within the city. In 2020, Amazon Fresh opened several physical stores in the U.S. and the United Kingdom . Amazon has a number of products and services available, including its digital assistant Alexa , Amazon Music , and Prime Video for music and videos respectively,

1751-478: Is Louisiana's fourth-most populous city with a 2020 census population of 121,374; the consolidated city-parish's population was 241,753 in 2020. The Lafayette metropolitan area was Louisiana's third largest metropolitan statistical area with a population of 478,384 at the 2020 census. The Acadiana region containing Lafayette is the largest population and economic corridor between Houston , Texas and New Orleans . Originally established as Vermilionville in

1854-570: Is a " social cataloging " website founded in December 2006 and launched in January 2007 by Otis Chandler, a software engineer, and entrepreneur, and Elizabeth Khuri. The website allows individuals to freely search Goodreads' extensive user-populated database of books, annotations, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading lists. They can also create their groups of book suggestions and discussions. In December 2007,

1957-599: Is a non-profit online news organization that has published since 2017. Licensing more than 22 FM and AM radio stations in its metropolitan area, Lafayette includes Valcour Records and ML1 Records in its metropolis. Major television stations include KATC 3 ( ABC ), KLFY-TV ( CBS ), KLAF-LD ( NBC ), KADN-TV ( Fox ), and KLPB-TV ( PBS ). Other major stations serving the Lafayette area include Alexandria 's KALB-TV (CBS and NBC), Baton Rouge's WBRZ (ABC), WAFB (CBS), WGMB-TV (Fox), WVLA-TV (NBC), and Lake Charles' KPLC-TV (NBC). According to Nielsen Media Research ,

2060-814: Is also home for the only two Cajun themed restaurants named Prejeans . (Located in Carencro and Broussard .) Lafayette is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns , the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Between 1995 and 2005, Lafayette was home to the Louisiana IceGators ECHL hockey team. In 2009, the IceGators returned as a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League until 2016. Also from 2009 to 2012, Lafayette

2163-438: Is an American video e-commerce live-streaming service created by Amazon Inc. to compete with live-streaming services. The service allows users to stream live videos promoting or sponsoring products. Users (mainly celebrities or Internet influencers ) have the option to livestream on Amazon and add tags to additionally add context to the products they're selling or promoting. Other users can join in and type in messages to send to

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2266-689: Is coterminous with Lafayette Parish. Lafayette is home to a regional office of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality , and the headquarters of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana , the state agency that oversees preservation and documentation of Louisiana French for tourism, economic development, culture, education, and the development of international relations with other Francophone regions and countries. The city of Lafayette

2369-412: Is described as humid subtropical using Köppen climate classification . It has year-round precipitation, especially during summertime. Lafayette's highest temperature was 110 °F (43 °C) on August 27, 2023; it has hot, moist summers and warm, damp winters. Attakapa Native Americans were originally the primary residents of the Lafayette area before French colonization , concentrated along

2472-483: Is frequently used by websites and non-profits to provide a way for supporters to earn them a commission. Associates can access the Amazon catalog directly on their websites by using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) XML service. A new affiliate product, aStore, allows Associates to embed a subset of Amazon products within another website, or linked to another website. In June 2010, Amazon Seller Product Suggestions

2575-622: Is home to a diverse population from Louisiana Creole and Cajun backgrounds. In 2014, Lafayette was named the "Happiest City in America.” The city and region's cultural icons include Alexandre Mouton House , Brandt House , Charles H. Mouton House , the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist , Daigle House , First United Methodist Church , Holy Rosary Institute , Hope Lodge No. 145 , and Old Lafayette City Hall . Its educational institutions include

2678-737: Is home to multiple sports venues: Blackham Coliseum , Cajundome , Cajun Field (now Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium) , Earl K. Long Gymnasium , Evangeline Downs , and Planet Ice Skating and Hockey Arena . Lafayette was home to minor-league baseball teams in various seasons from 1907 to 2000. Lafayette was an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns 1936–1941, Chicago Cubs (1955–1957) and San Francisco Giants (1975–1976). The Lafayette Browns (1907), Lafayette Hubs (1920), Lafayette White Sox (1934–1942), Lafayette Bulls (1948–1953), Lafayette Oilers (1954–1957), Lafayette Drillers (1975–1976) and Bayou Bullfrogs (1998–2000) all played in Lafayette. The teams were members of

2781-535: Is located at 30°13′N 92°2′W  /  30.217°N 92.033°W  / 30.217; -92.033 (30.2139, −92.0294), in southern Louisiana's Acadiana region on the Gulf Coast of the United States . It was part of the seabed during the earlier Quaternary period . During this time, the Mississippi River cut a 325-foot-deep (99 m) valley between what is now Lafayette and Baton Rouge. This valley

2884-596: Is primarily served by the Lafayette Police Department , though the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office , Lafayette City Marshal , and University of Louisiana Police Department maintain jurisdiction throughout the city and surrounding area. Following nationwide COVID-19 trends from 2019 to 2020, Lafayette has experienced a rise in violent crimes per the Federal Bureau of Investigation . In 2020,

2987-580: Is reportedly discussing a second multi-billion dollar investment in AI startup Anthropic, following its initial $ 4 billion investment. Amazon sells many products under its own brand names , including phone chargers, batteries, and diaper wipes. The AmazonBasics brand was introduced in 2009, and now features hundreds of product lines, including smartphone cases, computer mice, batteries, dumbbells, and dog crates. Amazon owned 34 private-label brands as of 2019. These brands account for 0.15% of Amazon's global sales, whereas

3090-569: Is the second-largest private employer in the United States and the second-largest company in the World and in the U.S. by revenue as of 2024. As of October 2024, Amazon is the 12th-most visited website in the world and 84% of its traffic comes from the United States. Amazon is also the global leader in research and development spending, with R&D expenditure of US$ 73 billion in 2022. Amazon has been criticized on various grounds, including but not limited to customer data collection practices,

3193-447: Is the world's largest online retailer and marketplace , smart speaker provider, cloud computing service through AWS, live-streaming service through Twitch, and Internet company as measured by revenue and market share . In 2021, it surpassed Walmart as the world's largest retailer outside of China, driven in large part by its paid subscription plan, Amazon Prime , which has close to 200 million subscribers worldwide. It

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3296-527: The Amazon Appstore for Android apps, the Kindle line of eink e-readers, Fire and Fire HD color LCD tablets. Audible provides audiobooks for purchase and listening. In September 2021, Amazon announced the launch of Astro , its first household robot, powered by its Alexa smart home technology. This can be remote-controlled when not at home, to check on pets, people, or home security. It will send owners

3399-672: The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States . Altogether, the Eastern Orthodox Church , Oriental Orthodox Churches , and non-mainstream Protestantism have constituted a significant minority in contrast to Catholic and Baptist missionary work. In a separate religious study by Sperling's BestPlaces in 2020, Judaism and Islam were tied as the second largest non-Christian religions within Lafayette and its metropolitan area. Jews began immigrating to

3502-465: The Gulf Coast League (1907), Louisiana State League (1920), Evangeline League (1934–1942, 1948–1957), Texas League (1975–1976) and Texas-Louisiana League (1998–2000). Lafayette teams played at Parkdale Park (1934–1942), Clark Field (1945–1957, 1975–1976) and Tigue Moore Field (1998–2000). In addition, the sport of trampoline developed in Lafayette. Jeff Hennessy 's gymnastics program at

3605-544: The Latin Church 's Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana . The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana was founded in 1918 and its see is the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist . Within the local Protestant traditions, Baptists have been the primary historic Protestant body affiliated with; the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. and Progressive National Baptist Convention have been

3708-570: The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, which was acquired in March 2022, and owns Brilliance Audio and Audible, which produce and distribute audiobooks, respectively. Amazon also produces consumer electronics —most notably, Kindle e-readers , Echo devices, Fire tablets , and Fire TVs . Amazon has a reputation as a disruptor of industries through technological innovation and aggressive reinvestment of profits into capital expenditures. As of 2023 , it

3811-528: The Nielsen BookScan service to verified authors. While the ASR has been the source of much speculation by publishers, manufacturers, and marketers, Amazon itself does not release the details of its sales rank calculation algorithm. Some companies have analyzed Amazon sales data to generate sales estimates based on the ASR, though Amazon states: Please keep in mind that our sales rank figures are simply meant to be

3914-711: The Roman Catholic Church . Jean Mouton, an Acadian settler, donated land to the Roman Church for construction of a small Catholic chapel at this site. In 1824, this area was selected for the Lafayette Parish seat and was named Vermilionville, for its location on the river; in 1836, the Louisiana State Legislature approved its incorporation. The area was initially developed by Europeans for agriculture, primarily sugar plantations , which depended on

4017-590: The United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 55.65 square miles (144.1 km ), of which 55.57 square miles (143.9 km ) is land and 0.08 sq mi (0.21 km ) (0.19 percent) is covered by water. The city of Lafayette's architecture is diverse, with a collection of more than eight downtown structures listed within the National Register of Historic Places . Downtown Lafayette landmarks include Old Lafayette City Hall and

4120-548: The University of Louisiana at Lafayette popularized the sport and produced more world champions — including his daughter, Leigh Hennessy — than any other location. Jeff Hennessy was also instrumental in getting trampoline into the Olympic Games, and several athletes from Trampoline & Tumbling Express in Lafayette have represented the United States at the Olympics. Lafayette has a consolidated city–parish government, known as

4223-450: The University of Louisiana at Lafayette , South Louisiana Community College , and Remington College . Lafayette is named after Marquis de Lafayette . Little is known about early settlements or if the area had a different name prior to European colonization . The city was originally founded in 1821 as Vermilionville. The Attakapa Native Americans inhabited this area at the time of the first European encounter. French colonists founded

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4326-465: The University of Louisiana at Lafayette , WHC, Inc., Walmart , Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center , Schlumberger , and Stuller, Inc. The University of Louisiana System 's other institutions and its Lafayette campus have contributed to a $ 10.9 billion impact on the state's economy. As one of the primary employers in Lafayette, the local university has made a statewide impact of $ 379 million in 2015. Prominent corporations with headquarters or

4429-677: The Vermilion River . Other significant waterways in the city are Isaac Verot Coulee, Coulee Mine, Coulee des Poches, and Coulee Ile des Cannes, which are natural drainage canals that lead to the Vermilion River. Lafayette lies approximately 135 miles (217 km) from New Orleans , 59 miles (95 km) from the state capital of Baton Rouge , 75 miles (121 km) from Lake Charles , and 89 miles (143 km) from Alexandria . The city has an elevation ranging from 36 feet (11.0 m) to 49 feet (15 m) above sea level. According to

4532-512: The Whole Foods Market supermarket chain in 2017. It is the leading e-retailer in the United States with approximately US$ 178 billion net sales in 2017. It has over 300 million active customer accounts globally. Amazon saw large growth during the COVID-19 pandemic , hiring more than 100,000 staff in the United States and Canada. Some Amazon workers in the U.S., France, and Italy protested

4635-408: The technology industry ; Lafayette also became a major center for health care and social services , aerospace , banking and retail . Notable corporations with headquarters or a large presence in the Lafayette area have included Amazon , Brookshire Grocery Company , CGI , JP Morgan Chase , Ochsner Health System , Petroleum Helicopters International , and Rouses Markets . Lafayette

4738-436: The 1820s and incorporated in 1836, Lafayette developed as an agricultural community until the introduction of retail and entertainment centers, and the discovery of oil in the area in the 1940s. Since the discovery of oil, the city and parish have had the highest number of workers in the oil and natural gas industry in Louisiana as of 2018. With the issuance of a bond ordinance for a series of roads connecting nearby settlements;

4841-571: The 1940s, Lafayette became a center of the oil and natural gas industry in Louisiana. In addition, the city and its metropolitan area became major centers for technology , health care and social services , aerospace , banking and retail from the latter 20th- and early 21st centuries. As of 2021, the consolidated city–parish's top employers have been the Lafayette Parish School System , Lafayette General Health, Wood Group Production Services, Lafayette Consolidated Government,

4944-515: The 2005 season, nine teams left the league to form United Indoor Football . That same year, the Intense Football League ceased operations and four teams from there joined the league. Those teams however, left the league before the 2006 season started. For the 2005 season, the NIFL had an agreement with NFL to handle referee assignment and training. The 2006 season, was the most chaotic for

5047-420: The 2017 season. As of June 2016, the league was looking for local team ownership under the league's business model. Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( / ˌ l æ f i ˈ ɛ t , ˌ l ɑː f -/ LA(H) - F -ee- ET , French: [lafajɛt] ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana , located along the Vermilion River . It

5150-447: The Amazon website and this may lead to an increase in sales. In particular, products that experience large jumps (up or down) in their sales ranks may be included within Amazon's lists of "movers and shakers"; such a listing provides additional exposure that might lead to an increase in sales. For competitive reasons, Amazon does not release actual sales figures to the public. However, Amazon has now begun to release point of sale data via

5253-479: The Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist. Near these structures, Chase and Doubletree have been the area's tallest buildings at 15 and 16 stories. With the announcement of the latest addition to the city in over 40 years, two high-rise towers were planned and would stand 4 stories higher. In October 2021, it was announced only one high-rise tower would be constructed citing lack of interest in condominiums within

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5356-480: The Internet. Audible sells digital audiobooks , radio and television programs, and audio versions of magazines and newspapers. Through its production arm, Audible Studios, Audible has also become the world's largest producer of downloadable audiobooks. On January 31, 2008, Amazon announced it would buy Audible for about $ 300 million. The deal closed in March 2008 and Audible became a subsidiary of Amazon. Goodreads

5459-414: The Lafayette Consolidated Government; parish voters agreed to consolidation of the city and parish governments in 1996. Lafayette's chief executive was initially called the city-parish president, but is now known as the mayor-president for the Lafayette Consolidated Government. Republican Monique Blanco-Boulet was elected to this office most recently. The consolidation of the city and parish has been

5562-558: The Lafayette television market was the 123rd largest in the United States as of 2019. Amazon (company) Amazon.com, Inc. , doing business as Amazon ( / ˈ æ m ə z ɒ n / , AM -ə-zon ; UK also / ˈ æ m ə z ə n / , AM -ə-zən ), is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce , cloud computing , online advertising , digital streaming , and artificial intelligence . Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington ,

5665-502: The U.S. and amazon.co.uk for UK) though some offer international shipping. Visits to amazon.com grew from 615 million annual visitors in 2008, to more than 2 billion per month in 2022. The e-commerce platform is the 12th most visited website in the world. In February, 2024, Amazon announced its first chatbot was first “Rufus” in the US and in July, it was widely available to all customers in

5768-562: The US. “Rufus” is now available in the US, India and the UK which helps the shoppers get product recommendations, get shopping list advice, compare products and see what other customers have responded to their specific questions. Results generated by Amazon's search engine are partly determined by promotional fees. The company's localized storefronts, which differ in selection and prices, are differentiated by top-level domain and country code : In 2000, US toy retailer Toys "R" Us entered into

5871-466: The United Kingdom and Germany. In the subsequent year, it initiated the sale of a diverse range of products, including music, video games, consumer electronics, home improvement items, software, games, and toys. In 2002, it launched Amazon Web Services (AWS), which initially focused on providing APIs for web developers to build web applications on top of Amazon's ecommerce platform. In 2004, AWS

5974-623: The Vermilion River. After the Louisiana Purchase , American settlers began moving into the area and intermarrying among the French, enslaved Africans , and free people of color . Since 1860, Lafayette has grown from 498 to 121,374 residents at the 2020 U.S. census . Following the American Community Survey's 5 year estimates program, the city has continued population growth with an additional 2020 estimate at 126,674 residents. With

6077-520: The area in the 1800s, and one of Louisiana's oldest continuously operated synagogues (Temple Shalom) has been present in the city since 1869. The historic synagogue of Temple Shalom originally functioned as an Orthodox Jewish congregation before joining the Reform Judaism movement. Lafayette's Jewish community has assisted in economic and cultural development of the area since their arrival. Established and occupied as an agricultural community until

6180-423: The area municipalities. Zoning rules apply only within the city and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish. Some neighboring municipalities have adopted their own planning and zoning protocols. The suburban and rural cities and towns maintain independent city councils, local executives, police and fire departments, and other public services. The LPSS operates independently of any municipality, and its jurisdiction

6283-445: The area; the project was halted in January 2022 citing further difficulties. The attempted construction of new high-rises within the heart of the city followed efforts to redevelop the downtown area in the 2010s and attract further residents. Alongside high-rise construction projects throughout the downtown area, a 70-unit apartment development began in early 2022 spurring continued interest in urban development. Lafayette's climate

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6386-595: The average for other large retailers is 18%. Other Amazon retail brands include Presto!, Mama Bear, and Amazon Essentials. Amazon derives many of its sales (around 40% in 2008) from third-party sellers who sell products on Amazon. Some other large e-commerce sellers use Amazon to sell their products in addition to selling them through their websites. The sales are processed through Amazon.com and end up at individual sellers for processing and order fulfillment and Amazon leases space for these retailers. Small sellers of used and new goods go to Amazon Marketplace to offer goods at

6489-595: The beginning of the 21st century, a committee proposed the deconsolidation of the city and parish. In 2015, the city of Lafayette gained international attention for a mass shooting and murder-suicide at Grand 16 Theater ; this mass shooting spurred further discussion and debate on gun control in the United States . During 2015, the Lafayette metropolitan area also overtook the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area by population, becoming Louisiana's third largest metropolitan region. The city of Lafayette

6592-450: The city and metropolitan economies have been Lowe's , Costco , and various national retail and department stores in the Mall of Acadiana . By December 2023, Topgolf opened a venue in Lafayette. Ranking as one of the best places to retire in Louisiana according to Forbes in 2018, Lafayette was also ranked one of the best places for businesses and careers in 2019; according to Forbes , it

6695-609: The city and region's historically Black or African American Baptist denominations, though the Church of God in Christ has also been a historically prominent African American Protestant body. Mormons , Lutherans , and Presbyterians have also maintained minority presences within the Lafayette municipal and metropolitan communities. Christians of other traditions including the Jehovah's Witnesses and united and uniting churches have been present in

6798-520: The city experienced 712 violent crimes up from 664 in 2019; according to a professor of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, violent crime was decreasing prior to the pandemic. In 2018 the city experienced 9 homicides, and 17 in 2020; for comparison, there were 195 homicides in New Orleans in 2020, and 100 in Baton Rouge. Altogether, Lafayette ranked as the 20th safest city overall in Louisiana, and

6901-465: The city proper's geographic foothold with exception to its northern neighborhoods. More than 34% of its Hispanic and Latino American population lived in the central-west portion of the city, and Black and African Americans primarily dominated the northern half of Lafayette city proper. Its Asian American community was dispersed throughout the whole city alongside multiracial Americans, and people of other races and ethnicities primarily lived near downtown or

7004-424: The city's border with Carencro . Having historic growth from the 20th and 21st centuries attributed primarily to the oil and gas industry, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette , and Acadiana tourism, an estimated 3.8 percent of the city's population was foreign-born from 2014 to 2019; of the foreign-born population, 33.6 percent were naturalized U.S. citizens. Altogether English , French , and Spanish were

7107-471: The city's metropolitan area since the 20th century. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the oldest nontrinitarian Christian denomination in Lafayette, and has one church in the city limits; the closest LDS churches outside of Lafayette are in New Iberia and Opelousas . There has been one Antiochian Orthodox jurisdiction operating since 2004; there is also a Coptic Orthodox mission under

7210-507: The city. The area's LGBT population have described Acadiana as "welcoming," though some members of the community in the 1970s declined to be photographed at public and private LGBT events. While regarded as welcoming, Lafayette's government was once under the Human Rights Campaign Foundation 's focus regarding non-discrimination in city employment; a local government spokesperson responded with reports of no complaints from

7313-481: The comments feature on customer reviews was rarely used ." The remaining review response options are to indicate whether the reader finds the review helpful or to report that it violates Amazon policies (abuse). If a review is given enough "helpful" hits, it appears on the front page of the product. In 2010, Amazon was reported as being the largest single source of Internet consumer reviews. When publishers asked Bezos why Amazon would publish negative reviews, he defended

7416-510: The company originally started as an online marketplace for books but gradually expanded its offerings to include a wide range of product categories, referred to as "The Everything Store". Today, Amazon is considered one of the Big Five American technology companies, the other four being Alphabet , Apple , Meta , and Microsoft . The company has multiple subsidiaries , including Amazon Web Services , providing cloud computing; Zoox ,

7519-653: The company's decision to "run normal shifts" due to COVID-19's ease of spread in warehouses. In Spain, the company faced legal complaints over its policies, while a group of US Senators wrote an open letter to Bezos expressing concerns about workplace safety. On February 2, 2021, Bezos announced that he would step down as CEO to become executive chair of Amazon's board. The transition officially took place on July 5, 2021, with former CEO of AWS Andy Jassy replacing him as CEO. In January 2023, Amazon cut over 18,000 jobs, primarily in consumer retail and its human resources division in an attempt to cut costs. On November 8, 2023,

7622-667: The diverse cultures of Lafayette. Notable cultural gatherings have included the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles , Festival International de Louisiane , Boudin Cookoff and Bacon Fest, the Cajun Heartland State Fair, and Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette . Residents also celebrate their cultural identities through visiting Acadian Village or Vermilionville Historic Village . Highly regarded for its diverse food and restaurant culture, Lafayette has been regarded as having

7725-595: The economy. By 2018, Lafayette had the highest number of oil and natural gas industry workers in the state. Since the latter half of the 20th century, Lafayette has hosted the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles , and was candidate as site for the New Orleans Pelicans NBA G League team in 2017. In 1996, the city and parish consolidated; the governments of the city and parish were merged, though five other incorporated municipalities continued to operate with their own municipal governments and departments. Since

7828-552: The establishment of Filipino communities along the coast of Louisiana (primarily in the Greater New Orleans area) up to established communities in the Acadiana region as of 2013. The city and area's Hispanic and Latino American population have existed since Spanish colonization of Louisiana . According to 2021 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau , its non-Hispanic or Latino white population have been prevalent throughout

7931-423: The establishment of the University of Louisiana System 's Lafayette campus; and the continued diversification of its economy, Lafayette and its metropolitan area have experienced population growth since the 1840 census and was promptly nicknamed "The Hub City." The city and parish of Lafayette are also known as the "Heart of Acadiana." As a result of its growth, the city and region have become major centers for

8034-484: The first European settlement, Petit Manchac , a trading post along the Vermilion River. In the mid-to-late eighteenth century, numerous Acadian refugees settled in this area, after being expelled from Canada after Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War . They intermarried with other settlers, forming what became known as Cajun culture, which maintained use of the French language and adherence to

8137-823: The fourth-most restaurants per capita in Louisiana since 2015. Home to the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Conservatory of Music, Chorale Acadienne, Lafayette Ballet Theatre and Dance Conservatory, the Lafayette Concert Band, and Performing Arts Society of Acadiana; as well as the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum , Acadiana Center for the Arts and Heymann Performing Arts Center, Lafayette has hosted Tyler Perry 's Madea's Farewell play in 2019. The 2018 television film , The Christmas Contract , set in Lafayette, features many Cajun Christmas customs. Lafayette

8240-465: The labor of numerous enslaved Africans and African Americans . They made up a large percentage of the antebellum population. According to U.S. census data in 1830, some 41 percent of the population of Lafayette Parish was enslaved. By 1860, the enslaved population had increased to 49.6 percent. Some free people of color lived in Lafayette Parish, as well; they made up 3 percent to a low of 2.4 percent between 1830 and 1860. In 1884, Vermilionville

8343-423: The largest collective Christian group. Among Protestant Christians, the largest were non-denominational Christians with 26,860 adherents; Southern Baptists with 22,324; Progressive National Baptists with 19,324; United Methodists with 8,401; and Assemblies of God USA with 6,704 adherents. Owing in part to Spanish and French colonialism and missionary work , Christians have historically affiliated with

8446-488: The league to that point. Ten expansion teams were added to the league, but nine of them had problems that reflected badly on the league. The most notable situation was the owner of the Montgomery Maulers firing the entire team. None of the ten expansion teams returned to the league for the next season. The 2007 season started with the addition of several league-owned expansion teams, primarily to supplement games with

8549-546: The local LGBT community. In 2023, the community celebrated the second annual Pride Acadiana. In common with Louisiana's religious demographic, Lafayette and its metropolitan area are predominantly religious, dominated by Christianity . According to the Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020, the Catholic Church was the single largest Christian denomination with a reported 212,013 adherents, and Protestants were

8652-488: The median income stood at $ 34,588. The city had an employment rate of 60.4 percent, up from the state's 55.4 percent from 2014 to 2019. While in the predominantly conservative southern U.S. , Lafayette has maintained a substantial lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community since at least 1969, when some members of the Mystic Krewe of Apollo, a gay cultural, social, and service organization in New Orleans, arrived in

8755-454: The migration and population growth of European , African , and multiracial Americans since early settlement, the racial and ethnic makeup of the city has been predominantly non-Hispanic or Latino white , Black or African American, multiracial, and Asian . French , German , English , American , Irish , and Italian were the largest European ancestry groups among the non-Hispanic or Latino white population. Asian settlers arrived during

8858-409: The most spoken languages at home among the native and foreign-born populations. In 2022, the city's foreign-born population grew to 5.8%. Poverty remaining an issue in the city with an estimated 18.6 percent at or below the national poverty threshold in 2019, the median income for a family was $ 54,139 in 2020 and Lafayettiens had a mean household income of $ 79,216; among non-family households,

8961-509: The need for farm workers. By 1898, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette was established in the city as the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute. It opened in 1901, and changed its name to the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1960. The university's current name was chosen in 1999. In the 1940s, after oil was discovered in the parish, the petroleum and natural gas industries expanded to dominate

9064-535: The partnership in November 2019. Companies including IKEA and Birkenstock also stopped selling through Amazon around the same time, citing similar frustrations over business practices and counterfeit goods. In September 2017, Amazon ventured with one of its sellers JV Appario Retail owned by Patni Group which has recorded a total income of US$  104.44 million ( ₹ 759 crore ) in financial year 2017–2018. As of October 11, 2017 , AmazonFresh sold

9167-423: The popularity of a product sold on any Amazon locale. It is a relative indicator of popularity that is updated hourly. Effectively, it is a "best sellers list" for the millions of products stocked by Amazon. While the ASR has no direct effect on the sales of a product, it is used by Amazon to determine which products to include in its bestsellers lists. Products that appear in these lists enjoy additional exposure on

9270-432: The practice by claiming that Amazon.com was "taking a different approach ... we want to make every book available—the good, the bad and the ugly ... to let truth loose". There have been cases of positive reviews being written and posted by public relations companies on behalf of their clients and instances of writers using pseudonyms to leave negative reviews of their rivals' works. The Amazon sales rank (ASR) indicates

9373-723: The proximity to a major book distribution warehouse in Roseburg, Oregon . Bezos also considered several other options, including Portland, Oregon , and Boulder, Colorado . The company, originally named Cadabra, was founded in the converted garage of Bezos's house for symbolic reasons and was renamed to Amazon in November 1994. The Amazon website launched for public sales on July 16, 1995, and initially sourced its books directly from wholesalers and publishers. Amazon went public in May 1997. It began selling music and videos in 1998, and began international operations by acquiring online sellers of books in

9476-411: The real name of the reviewer (based on confirmation of a credit card account) or which indicates that the reviewer is one of the top reviewers by popularity. As of December 16, 2020, Amazon removed the ability of sellers and customers to comment on product reviews and purged their websites of all posted product review comments. In an email to sellers Amazon gave its rationale for removing this feature: "...

9579-416: The returning teams. However, the teams were all poorly funded and had problems fielding competitive squads. The San Diego Shockwave were declared the official league champion. The league then officially folded prior to the 2008 season. In 2016, a new website announced that the league operations were relaunched by Carolyn Shiver with announced goal of bringing 34 teams into the former AFL markets starting in

9682-586: The safest of Louisiana's four largest municipalities in 2021. Lafayette's major daily newspaper is The Daily Advertiser , owned by Gannett (publishers of USA Today ). Established in 1865 as the Weekly Advertiser , it purchased the local alternative paper, The Times of Acadiana in 1998. Other prominent newspapers in the Lafayette area include Acadiana Profile , Baton Rouge-based The Advocate and its local paper The Acadiana Advocate , The Independent , and UL-based The Vermilion . The Current

9785-405: The service in categories that Toys "R" Us had been granted exclusivity. In 2006, a court ruled in favor of Toys "R" Us, giving it the right to unwind its agreement with Amazon and establish its independent e-commerce website. The company was later awarded $ 51 million in damages. In 2001, Amazon entered into a similar agreement with Borders Group , under which Amazon would comanage Borders.com as

9888-410: The subject of continuous public debate over the years. In 2011, a charter commission recommended deconsolidation, though parish voters rejected the recommendation. In 2018, voters separated the single city–parish council into a city council to represent the city of Lafayette and a parish council to represent Lafayette Parish. The mayor-president is still elected parishwide. In 2021, the city council passed

9991-540: The time suggested that Amazon planned to eventually roll out 300 to 400 bookstores around the country. All of its locations were closed in 2022 along with other retail locations under the "Amazon 4-Star" brand. In July 2016, the company announced that it was opening a 1,100,000 ft (335,280.0 m) square foot facility in Palmer Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania . As of 2024, Amazon

10094-696: Was #25 in the cost of doing business, #200 in job growth, and #175 in education nationwide. Per U.S. News & World Report , its cost of living has contributed to it being ranked as the second best place to live in Louisiana. Located in Acadiana , Lafayette is a diverse city with a large and growing metropolitan population as of 2015. The Lafayette metropolitan area has a large Louisiana Creole , Cajun , and substantial foreign-born population ; an estimated 14,676 Lafayettiens were foreign-born residents in 2019. Additionally, more than 36% of foreigners came from Asia from 2014 to 2019. Many annual events celebrate

10197-698: Was expanded to provide website popularity statistics and web crawler data from the Alexa Web Information Service. AWS later shifted toward providing enterprise services with Simple Storage Service (S3) in 2006, and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) in 2008, allowing companies to rent data storage and computing power from Amazon. In 2006, Amazon also launched the Fulfillment by Amazon program, which allowed individuals and small companies (called "third-party sellers") to sell products through Amazon's warehouses and fulfillment infrastructure. Amazon purchased

10300-478: Was filled and is now the Atchafalaya Basin . The city is located on the western rim of this valley. The Lafayette area is part of the southwestern Louisiana Prairie Terrace; it is higher and not made of wetlands like much of the surrounding areas to the south and west of Lafayette. Lafayette does not suffer significant flooding problems, outside of local flash flooding. Lafayette has developed on both sides of

10403-836: Was home to the Lafayette Wildcatters of the Southern Indoor Football League . It also became home to the Lafayette Bayou Bulls , a semipro football program started in 2003. The Lafayette SwampCats (1997–1999) and Lafayette Swamp Cats (2000–2004) soccer teams played in the city. The Cajun Soccer Club of the Gulf Coast Premier League was founded in 2013; Louisiana Krewe FC played in the Gulf Coast Premier League before joining USL League Two for its 2022 season. The Lafayette area

10506-402: Was launched to provide more transparency to sellers by recommending specific products to third-party sellers to sell on Amazon. Products suggested are based on customers' browsing history. Amazon allows users to submit reviews to the web page of each product. Reviewers must rate the product on a rating scale from one to five stars. Amazon provides a badging option for reviewers which indicates

10609-611: Was renamed for General Lafayette , a French aristocrat who had fought with and significantly aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . The city and parish economy continued to be based on agriculture into the early 20th century. After the American Civil War , most of the labor was done by freedmen , who worked as sharecroppers . From the 1930s, mechanization of agriculture began to reduce

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