A little-noticed court ruling last November recognizes that towns and cities have broad authority to reject dollar store development — if they believe it is not in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of its residents.… Read More
Another city is fighting back against dollar chains. The Chicago City Council has voted to enact an ordinance that will limit development of new chain dollar stores. Over 60 other cities and towns have enacted similar ordinances in recent years, but Chicago is the largest city to date to do so.… Read More
“Eliminating food deserts requires many solutions. But there is one absolutely essential action: preventing dollar stores from proliferating,” Tulsa City Council Member Vanessa Hall-Harper and ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith wrote in The Chicago Tribune in support of a proposal to limit dollar stores. … Read More
From mobile markets to refrigerated food pick-up lockers, communities are exploring innovative new approaches to making sure their residents have convenient, affordable access to healthy food. Check out the latest in our Community Wins series. … Read More
Kennedy Smith was on The Hustle to spell out why dollar stores are so problematic for our pocketbooks and our communities.… Read More
In Nonprofit Quarterly, ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith describes the federal Equitable Lending Leaders program and some of its biggest lessons.… Read More
Communities are adopting innovative strategies to sustain their grocery stores or create new ones amidst the challenges posed by grocery sector consolidation. Some local governments are even creating a public option by operating grocery stores themselves. Here’s how these places are ensuring access to fresh, healthy food. … Read More
As dollar stores multiply rapidly across the U.S., cities are developing dollar store-specific policies to rein in their growth. Such policies include “dispersal restrictions” that set limits on how close new dollar stores can be to existing ones. These ordinances account for the existing concentration of dollar stores within a neighborhood or city and help ensure that these chains cannot amass at such a density that they impede opportunities for grocery stores and other businesses to take root and grow. Our new map shows dollar store defeats and restrictions across the country. … Read More
In this report, we spotlight communities rising up against dollar chains and how federal policymakers need to address the ways in which misguided policies are fueling the destructive proliferation of dollar stores. … Read More
