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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Feb 1, 2003

Big Box Stores Drain City Revenue, Study Finds

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/big-box-stores-drain-city-revenue-study-finds/

Big box retail, shopping centers, and fast-food restaurants cost taxpayers more than they produce in revenue, according to a fiscal impact analysis in Barnstable, Massachusetts.

The study, conducted by Tischler & Associates, compares the tax revenue generated by different kinds of residential and commercial development with the actual cost of providing public services for each land use. Barnstable is a community of 48,000 people on Cape Cod.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Feb 1, 2003

Local Stores Create Triple the Economic Activity of Chains

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/local-stores-create-triple-economic-activity-chains/

When you spend $100 at the chain Borders Books & Music, your purchase creates only $13 worth of local economic activity. That same $100 spent at locally owned book or record store generates $45, or more than three times as much local economic activity.

That’s the conclusion of a new study conducted by Civic Economics and published by Livable City in Austin, Texas.

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filed under Waste to Wealth | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Dec 1, 2002

Roseburg, Oregon

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/roseburg-oregon/

2002 ILSR helped the Umpqua County Community Development Corporation (UCCDC) prepare a successful application to HHS, providing funds to create 13 new jobs in deconstruction over three years. (Six low-income workers already have been trained and employed at this writing.) Once funds were awarded, we helped train UCCDC staff, primarily in business management and development… Continue reading

filed under General | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Nov 17, 2002

Local Retailers Can’t Grow in the Shadows of Supercenters

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/local-retailers-cant-grow-shadows-supercenters/

Big box retailers are rapidly rolling out stores throughout Minnesota. Wal-Mart and Target are leading the pack with plans to build hundreds of new "supercenters" nationwide. These giant 200,000-square-foot stores are twice the size of a standard Wal-Mart and include general merchandise and a full supermarket, plus dozens of specialty vendors, from florists to gas stations.

Wal-Mart is scouting locations for a supercenter on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Small townships like Lakewood are likely sites. Wal-Mart is already building a supercenter in Cloquet and plans to abandon its existing 100,000-square-foot outlet when the new store opens.

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Article filed under Deconstruction, Waste to Wealth | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2002

Waste Stream: The Deconstructionists

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/12850/

In a Portland, Oregon, suburb, the six-man crew of DeConstruction, Inc., enters a three-bedroom house and, with hammers and crowbars, starts tearing the place apart. The cabinets and carpet are first to go. Then the doors are unhinged and the hardwood floors pulled up. Over the next week, the whole structure, windows to light fixtures to lumber, will be hauled out onto the lawn, sorted, and stacked. But unlike the wreckage generated by 95 percent of demolition jobs across the country, this stuff isn’t headed for the landfill. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2002

Tackling the Problem of Commercial Gentrification

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/tackling-problem-commercial-gentrification/

Rising commercial rents are generally a good thing; they are an indication of the health of a business district and encourage landlords and banks to invest in building improvements.

But in some communities, commercial rents are rising too far too fast. Often this sudden run-up is driven by chain retailers, which discover the appeal of an area and sweep in by the dozens, offering above-market rents for choice spots and sparking a frenzy of speculation.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2002

YAYA! BIKE CO-OP CHARTS RAPID GROWTH

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/yaya-bike-coop-charts-rapid-growth/

The number of businesses belonging to purchasing cooperatives has doubled in the last ten years, to about 50,000, according to Paul Hazen of the National Cooperative Business Association. In the hardware and grocery sectors, long-established co-ops like Ace Hardware, have provided an essential line of defense against large chains and made the difference between survival and failure for countless independent merchants. The co-op model is now spreading to other retail sectors.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2002

PUERTO RICO CHALLENGES WAL-MART ACQUISITION

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/puerto-rico-challenges-walmart-acquisition/

A broad coalition has coalesced in Puerto Rico to block an attempt by Wal-Mart to buy Supermercados Amigo, the island’s largest supermarket chain. The deal would give the retailer, which already has $1.16 billion in sales at 19 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores, a 40 percent share of Puerto Rico’s grocery sales.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2002

WAL-MART’S BID TO BUY BANK BLOCKED

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmarts-bid-buy-bank-blocked/

A coalition of consumer groups, unions, independent banks, credit unions, and realtors managed a legislative feat in California last month when they pushed through an 11th hour bill to block Wal-Mart’s attempt to acquire a small bank.

Wal-Mart filed an application with state regulators in April to buy Franklin Bank of California, an industrial bank with $2.5 million in assets and three employees in Orange County. The new law prohibits non-financial firms from buying state-chartered banks.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2002

Critical Small Business Loan Program Cut

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/critical-small-business-loan-program-cut/

The Bush Administration has cut the federal government’s largest and most important small business loan program by more than 60 percent. This year, the program will back only $4.4 billion in loans, compared to nearly $12 billion last year.

The program, known as 7(a), is run by the Small Business Administration and guarantees loans of up to $2 million made to small businesses. It is the largest source of long-term working capital for small businesses in the nation, accounting for some 40 percent of available financing.

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