Americans angry about Elon Musk's unprecedented cuts to government services are voicing their displeasure at Tesla showrooms, and Musk isn't happy about it. "Who is funding and organizing all these paid protests?" he recently groused on X, referring to the ongoing wave of Tesla Takedown demonstrations taking place across the country.
But the better question for Musk might be: "Who built my showrooms in a way that made them such ideal targets for demonstrations?" Because the answer is: Elon Musk.
Car dealerships tend to be relegated to the outskirts of big cities, but most of Tesla's 276 showrooms in the United States are located smack in the middle of bustling neighborhoods full of wealthy progressives. That puts them right next to popular stores and busy restaurants, increasing the brand's visibility and foot traffic. It's ideal if you want to sell a status-symbol electric car — but maybe not so ideal when people are up in arms about your full-tilt, questionably legal operation to gut federal services to millions of Americans.
Musk put his showrooms in tony blue neighborhoods for two good reasons. First, he needed a way to get around state laws that bar carmakers from selling directly to consumers. So Musk turned Tesla's lack of in-person sales into a selling point. The cars at a Tesla "gallery" aren't there for you to buy. Oh my, no! The grubby exchange of money happens online. That means that unlike other car dealerships, Musk doesn't need to park a fleet of unsold Hyundais along some six-lane highway on the far fringes of town. "Our stores," Musk boasted in 2012, "are designed to be informative and interactive in a delightful way and are simply unlike the traditional dealership with several hundred cars in inventory that a commissioned salesperson is tasked with selling."
Second, Teslas are des...
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