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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 | 13 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.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 6, 2004

Bristol, RI, Bans Large “Formula” Businesses

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/bristol-ri-bans-large-formula-businesses/

"We may look back and think this is one of the most important things we’ve done," said Bristol, Rhode Island, Town Councilor Halsey Herreshoff after the council unanimously passed a formula business ordinance in May. Bristol is a community of 23,000 people about half an hour southeast of Providence.

The ordinance bars formula businesses larger than 2,500 square feet or that take up more than 65 feet of street frontage from locating in Bristol’s historic downtown.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | 1 Comment | Updated on Aug 5, 2004

Wal-Mart Captures More than $1 Billion in Subsidies

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmart-captures-more-1-billion-subsidies/

A new study documents more than $1 billion in state and local development subsidies that have flowed to Wal-Mart, and that figure likely represents only the tip of the iceberg.

"Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth," produced by Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization, identifies 244 Wal-Mart stores and distribution centers in 35 states that have received subsidies totaling just over $1 billion.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 3, 2004

Bennington, Vermont, Adopts Store Size Cap

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/bennington-vermont-adopts-store-size-cap/

The city of Bennington, Vermont, has enacted a store size cap ordinance that effectively puts an end to attempts by Wal-Mart to build a giant supercenter.

"The concern has been that if a single retailer becomes too large and too powerful it destroys all competition in the marketplace. And we want to avoid that," said Bennington planning director Dan Monks.

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