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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Dec 1, 2003

Does Wal-Mart Really Need Our Tax Dollars?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/does-walmart-really-need-our-tax-dollars/

Typical of shopping centers built decades ago, Alameda Square in Denver is a cheap, single-story strip of stores. It’s ugly and rundown. But that does not deter shoppers. Mostly Asian Americans, shoppers come from miles around to patronize more than a dozen Asian-owned businesses, including two grocery stores, two restaurants, a hair salon, a clothing shop, a jeweler and a bakery.

On a weekday afternoon, the parking lot buzzes with activity. Inside Pacific Ocean International Supermarket, the dingy exterior gives way to bright lights, shelves stocked with canned bamboo shoots and dried fish and aisles of shoppers.

Most of Alameda Square’s businesses are profitable. Together they generate about $125,000 a year in sales tax revenue. But if the city of Denver has its way, these small businesses will be evicted to make way for a Wal-Mart super-center. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Dec 1, 2003

Does Wal-Mart Really Need Our Tax Dollars?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/does-wal-mart-really-need-our-tax-dollars/

Does Wal-Mart Really Need Our Tax Dollars? by Stacy Mitchell Originally published on High Country News, December 1, 2003 Typical of shopping centers built decades ago, Alameda Square in Denver is a cheap, single-story strip of stores. It’s ugly and rundown. But that does not deter shoppers. Mostly Asian Americans, shoppers come from miles around… Continue reading

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

Alabama Citizens Sue to Block Wal-Mart Giveaways

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/alabama-citizens-sue-block-walmart-giveaways/

Owners of a small business in Birmingham, Alabama, near the site of a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter, have filed suit against the city for giving the retailing giant a $10 million subsidy. Southeast Meats of Pelham, in operation for over two decades, contends the handout gives Wal-Mart an unfair advantage. The suit also asserts that the city improperly threatened to use eminent domain to force owners of the Wal-Mart property to sell. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2003

Austin Retailers Urge Shoppers to Ditch Chains for a Day

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/austin-retailers-urge-shoppers-ditch-chains-day/

Independent retailers in Austin, Texas, are calling on local residents to break the chain store habit by shopping exclusively at locally owned businesses on Saturday, November 15.

The one-day event—known as Austin Unchained—is being organized by the Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA), a association of some 200 locally owned businesses. The group is promoting Austin Unchained through tee-shirts, flyers, and posters.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2003

Consumer Reports Gives Top Ranking to Independent Pharmacies

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/consumer-reports-gives-top-ranking-independent-pharmacies/

An article in the October 2003 issue of Consumer Reports opens with the following recommendation: "If you’re among the 47 percent of Americans who get medicine from drugstore giants such as CVS, Eckerd, and Rite Aid, here’s a prescription: Try shopping somewhere else. The best place to start looking is one of the 25,000 independent pharmacies that are making a comeback throughout the U.S."

The article highlights the results of a year-long survey of more than 32,000 readers about their drugstore experiences.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2003

Independent Pharmacists Fight Discriminatory Health Plans

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/independent-pharmacists-fight-discriminatory-health-plans/

Pennsylvania pharmacists are up in arms over a new health plan for state workers that bars them from filling prescriptions at locally owned drugstores, requiring instead that they use Rite Aid or a mail order service.

The plan is run by a pharmacy benefit management company (PBM), which the state says will reduce costs by negotiating lower drug prices. In exchange, employees must accept restrictions on where they fill their prescriptions.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2003

Austin Coalition Forces Wal-Mart Retreat, City Agrees to Big Box Study

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/austin-coalition-forces-walmart-retreat-city-agrees-big-box-study/

Faced with strong opposition from a broad array of organizations and residents, Wal-Mart has abandoned plans to build a 24-hour supercenter on an ecologically sensitive site in southwest Austin. The 43-acre wooded tract sits over the Edwards Aquifer, the largest underground reservoir in Texas. It feeds Barton Springs and supplies drinking water to thousands of people.

Initially, opposition to Wal-Mart centered on its choice of location and the impact polluted parking lot runoff would have on the aquifer.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2003

California Appeals Court Upholds Formula Business Law

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/california-appeals-court-upholds-formula-business-law/

A California Appeals Court has upheld a local ordinance restricting the proliferation of formula retail businesses in Coronado, a city of 24,000 people near San Diego. The court ruled that the ordinance does not violate the US Constitution’s commerce and equal protection clauses, and is a valid use of municipal authority under California state law.

The ordinance, enacted in December 2000, requires anyone seeking to open a formula retail business to obtain a special permit.

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

Vote on Federal Sales Tax Fairness Bill Likely in Early 2004

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/vote-federal-sales-tax-fairness-bill-likely-early-2004/

Legislation introduced in Congress that would require internet retailers to collect state and local sales taxes stands a fairly good chance of passing in the first few months of 2004, according to supporters of the bill.

The bill, sponsored in the Senate by Byron Dorgan (D-SD) and Michael Enzi (R-WY) and in the House by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA), gives Congressional approval to a national compact made up of states that have simplified and aligned their sales tax rules and regulations.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 1, 2003

California Communities Embroiled in Supercenter Debates

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

Voters in Contra Costa County, California, will decide in March whether to keep a law banning supercenters from unincorporated areas in the county. Contra Costa County is home to about one million people and lies east of the San Francisco Bay area.

The law, which was approved unanimously by the County Board of Supervisors in June, prohibits stores over 90,000 square feet that devote more than five percent of their floor space to groceries.

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