Independent Business – Search Results
Return to Independent Business home page
Page 1 of 56
Dollar Stores Are Targeting Struggling Urban Neighborhoods and Small Towns. One Community Is Showing How to Fight Back.
Although dollar stores sometimes fill a need in places that lack basic retail services, there’s growing evidence that these stores are not merely a byproduct of economic distress. They’re a cause of it. In small towns and urban neighborhoods alike, dollar stores are leading full-service grocery stores to close. And their strategy of saturating communities with multiple outlets is making it impossible for new grocers and other local businesses to take root and grow.… Read More
The Impact of Dollar Stores and How Communities Can Fight Back (Fact Sheet)
National dollar store chains, including Dollar General and Dollar Tree, have seen huge growth over the past decade. These stores are also feeding more Americans than Whole Foods is. New research from ILSR’s Community-Scaled Economy Initiative documents the rapid rise of dollar stores and their damaging effects on the local economies of cities and small towns. Explore our two-page fact sheet to learn more about dollar store impacts and strategies to take action.… Read More
In Op-Ed for Fortune, ILSR’s Charlie Thaxton Details Amazon’s Long History of Gaming the Government
Tax incentives and subsidies are hastening market concentration. Amazon, which has a long history of securing government giveaways, is a clear example. … Read More
On WNYC’s On the Media, Stacy Mitchell Talks Antitrust’s Past and Future
ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell appeared as a guest on the WNYC radio program On The Media for a segment entitled “Making America Antitrust Again.” Stacy talked with host Brooke Gladstone about our country’s history of breaking up big corporations, the rise of Amazon, and where our growing anti-monopoly movement is headed.… Read More
Watch: Panel Discussion on What to Do About Amazon
ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell recently spoke on a panel focused on how to rein in Amazon’s monopoly power, hosted by the George Washington Institute of Public Policy.… Read More
In FTC Hearings, a Few Bright Spots Amid a Pro-Monopoly Status Quo
The FTC is examining the state of antitrust policy. Many of those invited to testify have reinforced the status quo, but moments of dissent show the consensus is facing an emerging challenge. … Read More
Unfair Advantage: In The Sun, Stacy Mitchell Discusses Amazon and the Future of Local Economies
This month, The Sun magazine features ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell in an extended Q&A about the consequences of Amazon’s tightening grip and what it will take to revive America’s left-behind cities and towns.… Read More
In Videos for Bernie Sanders, ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell Explains Amazon’s Monopoly Power
The two videos have drawn more than 1.8 million views across several platforms.… Read More
Dollar Store Dispersal Restrictions
In April 2018, the city of Tulsa, Okla., passed an ordinance restricting the density of new small-box discount retail or dollar store development. The goal of the ordinance was to improve access to fresh and healthy food in an identified food desert in a section of the North Tulsa neighborhood. Prior to this permanent policy, the city had implemented an interim moratorium on new dollar stores, in order to study the issue and hear community concerns. Given the success of Tulsa’s policies, others have started drawing inspiration from their efforts to limit dollar stores, including the cities of Mesquite, Texas, and New Orleans.… Read More
Reining in Pharmacy Middlemen
PBMs use several tactics to undermine competition and monopolize the prescription market. In some cases, they impose mandatory mail-order clauses on health plans and their customers, compelling people to obtain certain prescriptions through the mail rather than from a local pharmacy. PBMs commonly offer independent pharmacies take-it-or-leave it contracts that force them to either accept reimbursement rates that leave them losing money on some prescriptions or be left out of an insurer’s network altogether.… Read More
ILSR Submits Comments as Federal Trade Commission Embarks on a Rare Review of Its Antitrust Policy
In a series of hearings this fall, the Federal Trade Commission will examine whether it should be doing more to check concentrated economic power. ILSR has submitted comments to the agency that highlight the impact of concentration on independent businesses and outline the dangers of Amazon’s platform power. … Read More
Running for Congress on an Anti-Monopoly Platform (Episode 53)
Host Stacy Mitchell is joined by Austin Frerick, former Iowa congressional candidate, to discuss election campaigns that focus on challenging concentrated power. … Read More
Want to Strengthen Independent Businesses? Use These Policies (Episode 51)
Host Nick Stumo-Langer is joined by researchers Stacy Mitchell and Olivia LaVecchia to discuss their new guide to policy tools that strengthen independent businesses. … Read More
In Boston, City Council Members Introduce Proposal to Regulate Chain Stores
Boston is the latest city to introduce a formula business proposal, which would make national chains a conditional use throughout the city. … Read More
In Book Review for Washington Monthly, Stacy Mitchell on “The Truth About Big Business”
In the July-August issue of “Washington Monthly” magazine, ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell rebuts a new book’s claims that the monopolization of the U.S. economy is a good thing. As she does so, Stacy also mounts a vigorous counter-argument, explaining how economic policy has tilted the playing field in favor of bigness, but how small businesses perform critical functions that big businesses can’t.… Read More