Amazon’s Luxury Deal Poses a Quandary for FTC

Andy Jassy has a July 4 gift for Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan. Amazon is, according to The Wall Street Journal, planning to back HBC, owner of the Saks department store chain, in the acquisition of rival upscale chain Neiman Marcus. 

Yes, that’s right. The online retailing goliath, blamed by many for crushing old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar retailers, is now coming to the rescue of one of them. But despite the obvious irony, this is a smart move on Jassy’s part, both as a form of antitrust insurance and as a way of improving Amazon’s presence in luxury fashion.