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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

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Sep 16, 2004

National Survey to Assess Spread of “Clone Towns” Across Britain

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/national-survey-assess-spread-clone-towns-across-britain/

In a new report titled "Clone Town Britain," the London-based New Economics Foundation warns that the country’s town centers are rapidly being overrun by chain stores. "Retail spaces once filled with independent butchers, newsagents, tobacconists, pubs, book shops, greengrocers and family-owned general stores are becoming filled with supermarket retailers, fast-food chains, and global fashion outlets," the report says. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | 1 Comment | Updated on Sep 13, 2004

Mexican Citizens Protest Wal-Mart Near Ancient Pyramids

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/mexican-citizens-protest-walmart-near-ancient-pyramids/

A citizens group has filed legal appeals and staged demonstrations in an attempt to stop Wal-Mart from building a megastore near the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacan, about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City. The massive store, which would carry the logo of Bodega Aurrera, one of Wal-Mart’s Mexican subsidiaries, would be visible from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, the largest Pre-Columbian stone pyramid in the Western Hemisphere. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 17, 2004

Los Angeles Requires Economic Impact Studies for Supercenters

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/los-angeles-requires-economic-impact-studies-supercenters/

After months of debate on the consequences of big-box development, the Los Angeles City Council this month enacted a law that requires supercenters to undergo an economic impact analysis before being approved. The law applies to retail stores larger than 100,000 square feet that devote more than 10 percent of their floor space to food and that are seeking to locate in economic assistance zones. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 16, 2004

Maryland County Mandates Smaller Stores

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

Calvert County, Maryland, has enacted regulations limiting retail stores to 120,000 square feet in the town of Prince Frederick, 75,000 square feet in three other towns, and 25,000 square feet in the rest of the county. The regulations block Wal-Mart’s plans to double the size of its 97,000-square-foot Prince Frederick store, the only Wal-Mart in the county, and to build a new supercenter in the town of Dunkirk. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | 14 Comments | Updated on Aug 13, 2004

New Study Finds Wal-Mart’s Miserly Wages Cost Taxpayers

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/new-study-finds-walmarts-miserly-wages-cost-taxpayers/

California taxpayers are spending $86 million a year providing healthcare and other public assistance to the state’s 44,000 Wal-Mart employees, according to a new study by UC Berkeley’s Institute for Industrial Relations. The study, "Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs," found that the average Wal-Mart worker required $730 in taxpayer-funded healthcare and $1,222 in other forms of assistance, such as food stamps and subsidized housing, to get by. Continue reading

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

Vermont Closes Chain Store Tax Loophole

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/vermont-closes-chain-store-tax-loophole/

In May, Vermont became the seventeenth state in the nation to close a loophole that major chain retailers are using to evade paying state income taxes. The loophole allows multi-state corporations to shift income made at stores in Vermont to subsidiaries in low- or no-tax states like Delaware and Nevada. Income shifted in this manner, although earned in Vermont, is not subject to the state’s corporate income tax. Continue reading