Stacy Mitchell is a senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, where she directs initiatives on independent business and community banking. She is the author of Big-Box Swindle and also produces a popular monthly newsletter, the Hometown Advantage Bulletin. Connect with her on twitter and catch her recent TEDx Talk: Why We Can’t Shop Our Way to a Better Economy. More
When small town in Clark lost its last variety store, they had a choice: drive 40 minutes to a nearby town for basic supplies or pull together and jointly create a new, community-owned store. They pulled together. Continue reading
Does it take more energy to make ethanol than is contained in ethanol? That question continues to haunt the ethanol industry even after nearly 30 years of expanding production. Over the years more than 20 scientific studies have examined the question. This document contains links to the major studies of the subject completed during the last decade or so. Continue reading
Independent businesses are largely at the mercy of Visa and MasterCard when it comes to the fees they must pay every time they swipe a credit card. These fees, which are ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, have soared from $27 billion in 2004 to $48 billion last year (or $427 per household). Recognizing the tremendous market power held by card processors, many countries now regulate credit card transaction fees, setting them at rates as low as one-sixth of what U.S. businesses pay. Continue reading
Smithfield Farms was heavily fined for dumping waste into a Virginia River and forced to build a sewage treatment plant. When we changed trade rules by enacting NAFTA, Smithfield set up in Mexico, where environmental laws are virtually non existent. And the whole world may now be paying the price. Continue reading
The newly published Sustainable Food Retail Framework aims to help cities struggling with a lack of grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods better balance the need to quickly fill the gaps (a mandate that often favors large supermarket chains) with the advantages of fostering development that delivers more long-term stability and greater economic, community, and environmental benefits (a framework that favors local business). Continue reading
Doing so would ease budget shortfalls and restore a measure of fairnessfor small businesses, which lack access to these loopholes and end upshouldering a heavier tax burden than their big competitors. Some evidence even suggests that leveling the playing field may help spur entrepreneurialism and job growth. Continue reading
Stacy Mitchell speaking about the growth of the local business movement at the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute conference in Salt Lake City on Jan. 29, 2009. Continue reading
Abandoned big-box stores, dead and dying strip malls and empty storefronts are about to join foreclosed houses as one of the defining features of the American landscape in 2009. It will be tempting to blame the weak economy for all of this wreckage. But the recession has merely been the trigger. This avalanche of vacant retail, much like the mortgage crisis, has been a long time in the making. Continue reading
A widely publicized study claims that there is no evidence that Wal-Mart has had a negative impact on the small business sector. In reviewing the study, ILSR found fatal flaws. For example, the study relies on the wrong US Census dataset. Using the correct data, our analysis shows that the number of independent retailers fell as Walmart grew between 1982 and 2002. Continue reading
Little-noticed laws in more than half the states allow retailers to keep a portion of the sales taxes they collect from shoppers. The practice is costing states over $1 billion a year and lining the pockets of large chains, notably Wal-Mart. Continue reading
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