How Chain Stores Evade Paying State Taxes. . .And What to do About It

Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Many retail chains, including Victoria’s Secret and Toys "R" Us, earn profits at stores nationwide, but have developed an accounting scheme to evade paying their full-share of corporate income taxes in more than half the states. Tax experts believe the practice is costing states billions of dollars in lost revenue. It is likely one factor behind the decline in state corporate income tax receipts. … Read More

San Francisco May Notify Neighbors When Chains Try to Move in

Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Under a measure introduced by San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez, the city would notify neighbors whenever a pharmacy or coffee shop wants to open nearby. Residents would have 30 days to request that the proposed store be subject to a public hearing and formal review by the Planning Commission. Such reviews are normally required only for major demolition or construction, or when there is a change of use, such as from residential to commercial. … Read More

Los Angeles May Require Big Boxes to Pay Higher Wages

Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Hundreds of residents have attended hearings held by the Los Angeles City Council’s Economic Development and Employment Committee on ways to mitigate the negative effects of supercenters on the community. Supercenters are massive stores, primarily operated by Target and Wal-Mart, that combine general merchandise with a full supermarket.… Read More

Borders Books Drops Austin Project

Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Borders Books & Music has abandoned plans to build a superstore on the corner of Sixth and Lamar in downtown Austin, Texas. A community organization, Livable City, had joined local business owners in fighting the development, which was to be built across the street from two long-standing independent stores, BookPeople and Waterloo Records. The city had set aside $2.1 million in public subsidies for the project.… Read More

Saving Banff

Date: 27 Jun 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Banff, like many communities in western Canada, is facing a growing influx of multinational chains. Determined to save their community from becoming"Anyplace, North America," Banff officials are investigating ways to buck the chain store trend. Luckily, they are not in uncharted territory. Communities across the continent have devised effective strategies for limiting chains and nurturing locally owned businesses. … Read More

Saving Banff

Date: 27 Jun 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Saving Banff by Stacy Mitchell originally published in Calgary Herald, June 27, 2003 Banff, like many communities in western Canada, is facing a growing influx of multinational chains [“Banff fears ‘corporate branding’ of resort”]. Stores like The Gap and Starbucks are multiplying rapidly, undermining the unique character of this lovely mountain town and displacing locally owned … Read More

Business Forum: Beware of private solutions to public problems

Date: 24 Apr 2003 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Business Forum: Beware of private solutions to public problems By David Morris Originally Published on Alternet, April 24, 2003 The words we use reflect the values we hold and the times in which we live. At the birth of the American Republic the word “private ” had a sinister connotation. Derived from the Latin privare, meaning … Read More

Iowa Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Activists, Against Wal-Mart

Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Years of fighting a Wal-Mart supercenter slated for a flood plain in a rural area of Decorah, Iowa, have finally paid off for a tenacious group of residents and small business owners. On April 2, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Decorah City Council acted illegally when it approved a Wal-Mart supercenter in the Upper Iowa River flood plain. … Read More

Shenandoah Valley Residents Fight Big Box Development

Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Citizens in Front Royal, Virginia, a town of 13,000 in the Shenandoah Valley, are organizing to block a 184,000-square-foot Wal-Mart superstore. The development is slated for 121-acre tract of flood plain land bordering the south fork of the Shenandoah River. In order to proceed, Wal-Mart must convince the town to re-zone the land from residential to commercial. Residents have organized under the banner "Save Our Gateway" to fight the project. … Read More

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