Amazon provides salaried jobs at their regional warehouses, and revenue to the resellers, and revenue to affiliates.

Perhaps the only thing missing is a way to sort results on Amazon by locale.

Amazon may be local to my state but the small toy store is local to my _city_. The warehouse four hours away means less to me than someone who pays taxes in my city and lives two miles away.

If there were an Amazon warehouse nearby would that change things for you?

I live about 2 miles from both amazon and jet warehouses, and that doesn't make it feel any more like a local business.

I don't think the size of the warehouse matters - that's like caring how a big the kitchen is at a great restaurant. It's the experience of finding the thing you spend money on, and then getting whatever value it is you hoped for.

There is a physical constraint aspect to local businesses that create an inherent diversity. Being next to a huge store curated by one entity is much different.

Would you rather live next to a Wal-Mart or a thriving strip/block with a dozen or so various options? It depends on your needs and desires I suppose.