A.M. ATL: Not a knockout

Morning, y’all! If you had to explain a plane to a whale, how would you do it? No reason, just asking.

Let’s get to it.

VENDORS AREN’T SEEING THE FRUITS OF WORLD CUP PROMISES

Vendor booths sit empty in the shadow of Atlanta Stadium (Mercedes-Benz Stadium) on the Steele Bridge in downtown Atlanta. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

We’re still on a World Cup high, but unfortunately, it’s not all fun and games for Atlanta vendors who were promised economic opportunities that never materialized.

A group of 30 vendors is trying to recoup thousands of dollars they claim they lost because of alleged operational issues with the Welcome to ATL Experience, a city-sponsored small-business activation downtown.

• About 120 businesses signed up. Dozens have since pulled out, and booths are sitting vacant downtown. It’s a bad look.
• Vendors who talked to the AJC said they spent tens of thousands of dollars in setup costs and booth fees.
• One vendor said a tool provided by the Welcome to ATL Experience predicted he’d make $40,000 a day for the 16 days he’d be at the activation. Instead, he made less than $1,000 over four days before pulling out of the project.

So, what’s the problem?

• The organizers of the Welcome to ATL Experience say World Cup foot traffic was far below predictions. However, slighted business owners say the issues go deeper.
• Vendors say organizers promised to provide everything they needed, from a branded booth to marketing.
• “Nothing is similar to what they promised,” one business owner said.

DoorDash, an official sponsor of the Welcome to ATL Experience, also pulled out of the event.

“Unfortunately, the experience did not meet the expectations communicated to DoorDash or participating merchants, and we are deeply sorry to the small business owners who invested their time, resources, and trust in this activation,” the company said in a statement.

🔎 READ MORE: How things fell apart, according to vendors and organizers

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POSTAL UNION WANTS SAFETY REVIEW OF ATLANTA FACILITY

Four workers have died on the job at a metro Atlanta distribution center since it opened in 2024. Now, the American Postal Workers Union wants an investigation.

• The workers all died after having medical emergencies at the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto. At least three of the four men died of cardiovascular disease.
• The union says the facility did not have trained emergency staff or a defibrillator.
• After one death, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff raised the issue to Postmaster General David Steiner and asked about spotty cellphone service and poor working conditions at the facility.

🔎 READ MORE: Why the U.S. Postal Service denied an investigation

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🔄 U.S. Rep. Mike Collins is on his third chief of staff in less than a year after high-profile and controversial exits by his previous top aides. Collins is challenging Ossoff for his U.S. Senate seat this November. Ossoff has hammered the Republican’s staffing issues and called Collins a “notorious bigot, antisemite and extremist.”

🚗 Mercedes-Benz debuted its Atlanta Technology Center in west Midtown this week. Dubbed a “playground for engineers,” the $34 million facility will consolidate the automaker’s North American back-end and testing operations in one place.

🏛️ A federal judge’s decision to block a subpoena seeking the identities of thousands of Fulton County’s 2020 election workers is unusual … and not. Courts rarely block Justice Department subpoenas, but this week’s decision was the third time this year courts have blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to probe perceived political enemies.

⚖️ A federal judge in Atlanta won’t recuse herself from a race bias case against UPS. The judge is facing several recusal requests and possible impeachment articles after a sex scandal with a high-ranking Atlanta police officer.

BELUGAS INCOMING

The rescue is a milestone for Georgia Aquarium and the end of an era for Marineland of Canada. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP 2023)

The Georgia Aquarium is adopting two beluga whales from the defunct Marineland of Canada. That’s exciting! How are they going to get here, though?

Pulling off a special delivery

• The whale rescue would have the largest scope of any in the aquarium’s history. It’s part of a larger operation across multiple rescuers and borders.
• The aquarium’s marine mammal specialists have done this before. In 2024, they rescued two beluga whales from the war-torn region of Kharkiv, Ukraine, in an operation that required a cargo plane and, one assumes, lots of the beluga equivalent of Xanax.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration approved the Canada-Atlanta transition as being in the whales’ best interest. Aquarium staff members will travel there and assess the whales’ readiness for travel. Dying to know how that goes. “Ever been in a plane before, buds? Prepare to have your mind blown.”
• The future Atlanta residents are named Balor and Zephyr. Everyone be really nice to them when they arrive! They’ve been through a lot.

🐋 READ MORE: More on the whale rescue process, and how many orgs are involved

NEWS BITES

U.S. soccer star Christian Pulisic fractured his leg in World Cup loss

Talk about adding injury to insult.

Dutch museum honors recently deceased artist by spreading more than 800 pounds of peanut butter on a museum floor, which is what he would have wanted

Wim T. Schippers first created the Pindakaasvloer, or peanut butter floor, in 1969. Pindakaasvloer. Amazing. The Dutch language is truly a gift.

A retired Atlanta banker’s good-natured trash talk is one of the World Cup’s best clips