Size restrictions keep the large stores out, but many places are grappling with the proliferation of smaller chains, like Starbucks and Blockbuster. These cookie-cutter operations often displace unique homegrown businesses and have made many cities and towns virtually indistinguishable. … Read More
One might be tempted to think that the rise of giant chain bookstores has been a boon to authors. After all, the typical Barnes & Noble or Borders superstore stocks upwards of 150,000 titles, compared to an average of 20,000 for an independent. … Read More
Salt Lake City officials now routinely consider how their decisions might impact locally owned businesses, thanks to the work of a new independent business coalition and the election last year of Mayor Rocky Anderson. … Read More
Locally owned businesses on the Hawaiian island of Maui are facing a invasion of national chains. It began with the arrival of Eagle Home & Garden in 1996. Borders Books, Office Max, Old Navy, Kmart, and Costco soon followed. Home Depot recently broke ground.… Read More
In August, the city of Rockville, Maryland adopted an ordinance barring stores over 65,000 square feet and requiring those that exceed 25,000 square feet to meet design guidelines. The action puts an end to a proposed 128,000 square foot Costco warehouse store. (Wal-Mart stores range from about 80,000 to 250,000 square feet. A typical Borders Books is about 35,000 square feet.)… Read More
Local activists and business owners in Pittsburgh are fighting Mayor Tom Murphy’s plan to use eminent domain to destroy 60 buildings and condemn 125 mostly locally owned businesses. In their place, Murphy wants to build a massive retail complex, anchored by a Nordstrom department store and several dozen national chains such as The Gap, FAO Schwarz, and J Crew. … Read More
Wal-Mart wants to open 300 new "supercenters" by 2002, but the corporation’s plans may be derailed by mounting opposition in heavily unionized regions. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union has joined with local business owners and neighborhood activists to stop Wal-Mart’s expansion in several western states and parts of the Upper Midwest and Northeast.… Read More
In this classic talk, delivered at the annual conference of the American Planning Association, Stacy Mitchell describes how, contrary to conventional wisdom, the decline of independent businesses isn’t inevitable or the result of free market forces. Rather, public policy decisions have played a major role — and a growing number of communities are deciding to take a different approach. … Read More
Chain stores are sprouting up on the American landscape as fast as vicious weeds. Their proliferation has made traveling an unsettling experience – a constant deja vu of arriving in places virtually identical to the ones left behind. So it was with my first trip to Colorado. I drove from the Denver airport to Boulder, through an area with the same placeless landmarks found everywhere: Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, Petsmart, Office Max and Starbucks.… Read More
