“Local online bookseller” Amazon rolled out their new local deals service, AmazonLocal, in Seattle today, pitching shoppers ” average savings of 60 percent or more off everything from restaurants to spas and events.”

The inaugural deal? 50 percent off food and drinks and games at the Garage on Capitol Hill. (668 purchased as of 12:25 p.m.) At first, says Amazon, shopper will find deals from LivingSocial, but soon AmazonLocal will have their own offers. You can also follow AmazonLocal deals on Twitter and Facebook.

However, Mary Osako, Amazon.com spokesperson, emphasizes that it’s not just the price-point: “It’s about opening up Seattle, our hometown, for exploration. From coffee shops to the arts scene, there are so many innovative businesses and locally-developed services to try out right in our own backyard.”

That philosophy of course is a line straight from DealPop, the local online couponer that WhitePages sold recently to Seattle’s Tippr (an acquisition that would indicate Tippr knew they had to get big fast). Here’s Exhibit A, from our earlier profile:

Yaeger said she likes DealPop because “they’re creating destinations,” using the discount not simply to lure bargain-hunters but to entice people to learn about the businesses in their area.

Right now, AmazonLocal is local to Seattle and Boise, ID, but the interested can sign up to be alerted when AmazonLocal comes to their town. How successful Amazon will be with this come-from-behind entry is up in the air. Is there anyone in Seattle who hasn’t bought something from Amazon at this point? (Employees of local bookstores aside.) Clearly Amazon has an enviable pool of customers; but as Groupon’s ceaseless staffing-up (and Amazon’s riding in on LivingSocial coattails) indicates, it takes a lot of salespeople to drum up daily-deal business.