Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at 1 PM Eastern
Featuring ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell and KVD Strategies PLLC’s Katherine Van Dyck
Ever wonder how Walmart, Amazon, dollar chains or other big retailers are able to set their retail prices lower than independents? You are invited to join a virtual briefing detailing how mega retailers use their market power to extract illegal pricing, access, and promotions from suppliers, allowing them to undercut small and medium competitors on retail prices. This illegal practice has been largely unpoliced, but there is a groundswell movement to fight back. Small businesses can join together to urge federal regulators to revive the Robinson-Patman Act – a law passed in the 1930s to safeguard the ability of Main Street businesses to compete.
Join independent business associations to see how your business can stand up to big corporate power and level the playing field.
Briefing co-hosts:
American Booksellers Association
American Independent Business Alliance
American Specialty Toy Retailing Association
Cambridge Local First
Independent Natural Food Retailers Association
Independent Shopkeepers Association
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Local Business Institute
Local First Arizona
Local Return
Louisville Independent Business Alliance
Lowcountry Local First
National Community Pharmacists Association
National Grocers Association
Small Business Majority
Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance
The government's decision to stop enforcing the law in the 1980s fueled the collapse of Main Street. Now a revival is imminent.
The FTC's lawsuit against Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, utilizing the Robinson-Patman Act, could be an opportunity to restore fairness to the American economy
99% Invisible, with Stacy Mitchell's help, devotes an episode to the relationship between food deserts and the federal government's abandonment of Robison-Patman Act enforcement.
ILSR hosted a congressional briefing featuring antitrust experts, small business owners, and lawmakers to hear about unfair corporate pricing practices that are squeezing small businesses.