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
After months of study and consideration by local officials and concerned citizens, the Bellingham City Council has enacted a law that prohibits stores over 90,000 square feet and imposes design standards on those over 60,000 square feet. Continue reading
"Our results indicate that the presence of Wal-Mart depresses social capital stocks in local communities," concluded Goetz and Rupasingha in their study, which was published by the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. The implications include both a weakened social fabric and "real costs for communities in the form of reduced economic growth."
The study examined both communities in which new Wal-Mart stores were built in the 1990s and those that already had a Wal-Mart at the beginning of the decade. The study controlled for other variables known to affect social capital stocks in a community, such as educational attainment.
The 2006 openings followed the launch of nearly 90 bookstores in 2005. “2005 was the first year in memory that there were a significant number of new store openings,” said Oren Teicher of the American Booksellers Association. The locations of the new stores spanned 35 states and included a wide range of cities and small towns, from Los Angeles to Pierre, South Dakota, and Homer, Louisiana. Continue reading
Stacy Mitchell on her book Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses – broadcost on The Book Report.
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A growing number of communities are fighting back against the rising power of large retail stores like Wal-Mart. But real change won’t come until we stop thinking of ourselves as consumers and start thinking of ourselves as engaged citizens. Continue reading
A three-year-old campaign to encourage people in northwest Washington state to "Think Local First" is having a dramatic effect on spending behavior, according to a recent survey. Continue reading
The San Diego City Council voted 5-3 to prohibit supercenters — stores that are larger then 90,000 square feet and devote more than 10 percent of their floor area to groceries. The measure will prevent Wal-Mart and Target from opening large supercenters in the city. Wal-Mart supercenters average 187,000 square feet in size. Continue reading
In this Q&A with Bookselling This Week, Stacy Mitchell talks about how big chains benefit from government favoritism and misperceptions about price and value. Continue reading
Contrary to common perception, the evidence overwhelmingly indicates independent pharmacies, not Wal-Mart or other chains, usually provide the best value. Continue reading
David Morris
in a discussion on what it means to a community when its major
financial and corporate institutions are swallowed up by national and
international mergers. With University of Baltimore professor Richard Clinch and Baltimore Sun business reporter Jay Hancock – Broadcast on the Marc Steiner Show, WYPR.
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