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About Stacy Mitchell

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

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 23, 2004

Shoppers Urged to Break Free of Chains

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

Independent businesses in two dozen cites joined forces to urge residents to "unchain" themselves on Saturday, November 20, by patronizing only locally owned stores and restaurants that day. The event, dubbed America Unchained, was organized by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). The goal, according to AMIBA’s director Jennifer Rockne, was to broaden awareness of the local economic benefit of choosing to shop at locally owned businesses instead of chains. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 9, 2004

California Lawmakers Seek to Drop Wal-Mart Stock from State Pension Fund

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/california-lawmakers-seek-drop-walmart-stock-state-pension-fund/

A group of California state lawmakers, led by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, are calling for the legislature to require that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) sell its 18.8 million shares of Wal-Mart stock, valued at about $1 billion. "The Legislature needs to take a close look at how we put our money behind our values," Lieber told the Associated Press. "Wal-Mart is making a big push to expand in many areas of our state. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 9, 2004

Big-Box Ballot Initiatives: Wins & Losses

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

Voters in Hudson, Ohio—a community of 23,000 people thirty miles southeast of Cleveland—overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative that would have opened the way for big-box stores and allowed developers to skirt the town’s development review process. "We are ecstatic," said Liz Murphy, owner of the Learned Owl bookstore and member of Smart Growth Hudson, a citizens group that formed to defeat the initiative. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 29, 2004

Wal-Mart Hinders Poverty Reduction, Study Finds

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmart-hinders-poverty-reduction-study-finds/

Counties that gained Wal-Mart stores during the 1990s fared worse in terms of family poverty rates than those that did not, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State’s Center for Economic and Community Development. Wal-Mart often characterizes its stores as beneficial to the working poor. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 21, 2004

Independent Businesses Produce Bigger Economic Benefits, Study Concludes

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/independent-businesses-produce-bigger-economic-benefits-study-concludes/

Chicago’s locally owned businesses generate 70 percent more local economic impact per square foot than chain stores, according to a new study. The study, conducted by the firm Civic Economics, analyzed ten locally owned restaurants, retail stores, and service providers in the Andersonville neighborhood on Chicago’s north side and compared them with ten national chains competing in the same categories. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 8, 2004

Austin Study Says City Pays Price for Big-Boxes

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/austin-study-says-city-pays-price-bigboxes/

A coalition of organizations in Austin, Texas, released a report this week that concludes that big-box retailers impose significant costs on the community. It recommends that the city scrutinize big-box projects more thoroughly and adopt a long-range plan to strengthen locally owned businesses. The report reviews and refutes several of the findings of another big-box study commissioned by the city and released in June. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 4, 2004

NYC’s Newsstands Fight Corporate Takeover

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

Newsstand owners in New York City have filed a legal challenge to a new law that would transfer ownership of the city’s 300 independent newsstands to a single corporation. Under the law, which was backed by the mayor and endorsed by all but three city councilors, the eclectic newsstands will be replaced by identical kiosks under central ownership. Five companies, including JCDecaux, which manages "street furniture" in 3,500 cities worldwide, are bidding for the contract. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 1, 2004

New Report Finds Retail Development Costs Ohio Taxpayers

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/new-report-finds-retail-development-costs-ohio-taxpayers/

A new report prepared for the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission concludes that retail development costs cities more in public services than it generates in revenue. The report, produced by Randall Gross of Development Economics in Washington, D.C., reviews and summarizes the findings of fiscal impact studies conducted in eight central Ohio communities between 1997 and 2003. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Sep 30, 2004

Supreme Court May Limit Land Seizure for Private Development

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/supreme-court-may-limit-land-seizure-private-development/

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case early next year that could set new limits on the ability of cities to condemn and take property for private redevelopment projects. There have been many cases in recent years where local governments have seized homes and small businesses to make way for chain retail development. In downtown Port Chester, New York, for example, bulldozers are currently leveling a 27-acre site that once housed numerous small businesses. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Sep 29, 2004

Flagstaff Enacts Big-Box Limits

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

On a 5-2 vote, the City Council in Flagstaff, Arizona, a city of 53,000 people about two hours north of Phoenix, approved an ordinance controlling the size, location, and community impacts of big-box stores. The action is "important to the long-term vitality of Flagstaff," said Becky Daggett, director of Friends of Flagstaff’s Future, a citizens group that worked for the ordinance’s passage. Continue reading