Study Finds Wal-Mart Increases Poverty
A new study published this month in Social Science Quarterly has documented a correlation between Wal-Mart’s presence and higher poverty rates. … Read More
Ensuring a Future for Independent Businesses
This talk was sponsored by the American Booksellers Association and given at Book Expo America, an industry trade show, in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2006.… Read More
The Perils of Wal-Mart Dependence
In July, the town of Homer, Louisiana, will become the latest in a string of small Southern communities where Wal-Mart has taken over the local economy only to skip town years later, leaving a withered tax base and no place to buy many staple goods. … Read More
10 Reasons Why Maine’s Homegrown Economy Matters: And 50 Proven Ways to Revive It
This report opens with an overview of research on the impacts of large chain stores and the benefits of locally owned businesses. It then outlines dozens of concrete strategies to rebuild the homegrown economy. Although this report was written for Maine, the strategies are applicable in other states. … Read More
Voters in Cal. County May Ban Corporate Spending on Ballot Initiatives
Next month voters in Humboldt County, California, will consider a ballot measure to ban election contributions by out-of-town corporations. … Read More
Jane Jacobs on Locally Owned Businesses
Among Jane Jacobs’ many accomplishments, she mobilized her neighbors and led several successful grassroots fights in the 1960s that saved Greenwich Village, Soho, Little Italy, and the Lower East Side from being leveled for glass towers and an eight-lane highway. … Read More
Crowd of 1,400 Turns Out as Montana County Bans Big Boxes
A public hearing on a county ordinance to limit stores to 60,000 square feet got a late start because it had to be moved first to the middle school auditorium and then to the gymnasium to accommodate the throng of nearly 1,400 people who turned out.… Read More
Anti-Supercenter Ordinance Upheld
A California appeals court upheld an ordinance enacted by the city of Turlock that prohibits the construction of supercenters. Wal-Mart had challenged the ordinance on the grounds that it illegally restricted competition. The court ruled that the ordinance was a valid use of local authority.… Read More
Damariscotta, Maine, Rejects Wal-Mart, Endorses Size Cap
On Tuesday, voters in the small town of Damariscotta, Maine, overwhelmingly approved a local law barring stores over 35,000 square feet (about the size of a medium grocery store). The vote puts an end to Wal-Mart’s plans to build a 187,000-square-foot supercenter in this village of just 2,000 people. … Read More