ILSR’s Testimony at New York City Hearing on Retail Diversity and Neighborhood Character

Date: 10 Oct 2016 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

At a recent New York City Council hearing, ILSR submitted testimony examining the importance of locally owned businesses to the City, the crisis affecting them, and examples of effective and proven policy strategies to level the playing field for these businesses.… Read More

How Rising Commercial Rents Are Threatening Independent Businesses, and What Cities Are Doing About It

Date: 20 Apr 2016 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As the cost of leasing commercial space soars in many U.S. cities, this report examines what’s behind the skyrocketing rents and explores six broad policy strategies that cities are proposing to keep space appropriate and affordable for independent businesses. … Read More

How Big are Big-Box Stores?

Date: 23 Dec 2008 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Wal-Mart and Target are currently building "supercenters," which combine their usual array of merchandise with a full supermarket and numerous specialty services from cut flowers to eye glasses. Supercenters typically range from 180,000 to 250,000 square feet, or between 4.1 to 5.7 acres. The parking lots that surround these stores are several times the size of the store itself.… Read More

California Supreme Court Bolsters Local Authority to Control Retail

Date: 8 Jun 2007 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In a unanimous decision yesterday, the California Supreme Court fortified efforts by cities across the state to restrict the development of big-box stores, favor small-scale retailers, and protect the vitality of downtowns. The ruling (Hernandez v. City of Hanford) upholds the authority of cities to adopt planning and zoning ordinances that have a direct impact on economic competition and that treat businesses differently based on the scale of their stores.… Read More

San Diego Bans Supercenters

Date: 1 Dec 2006 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The San Diego City Council voted 5-3 to prohibit supercenters — stores that are larger then 90,000 square feet and devote more than 10 percent of their floor area to groceries. The measure will prevent Wal-Mart and Target from opening large supercenters in the city. Wal-Mart supercenters average 187,000 square feet in size.… Read More

Damariscotta, Maine, Rejects Wal-Mart, Endorses Size Cap

Date: 22 Mar 2006 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

On Tuesday, voters in the small town of Damariscotta, Maine, overwhelmingly approved a local law barring stores over 35,000 square feet (about the size of a medium grocery store). The vote puts an end to Wal-Mart’s plans to build a 187,000-square-foot supercenter in this village of just 2,000 people. … Read More

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