Big Finance is Destroying Big Retail

Date: 6 Oct 2017 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This article was originally published in our The Public Good: Reports from the Front Lines (September 27, 2017), available here. In the 1980s, leveraged buyouts became financial engineering’s newest invention. Corporate raiders would use the assets of the target corporation to collateralize the debt required to take it over. The resulting large debt payments burdened the … Read More

Don’t Subsidize Big Boxes at Local Shops’ Expense

Date: 10 Sep 2011 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Handing out multimillion-dollar subsidies to large chains has become commonplace in much of the country. But when governments use public money to woo national chains, economic growth and job creation are negligible, and independent retailers suffer, Stacy Mitchell argues in this commentary for Business Week.

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What to Do About Wal-Mart

Date: 5 Dec 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As the company’s misdeeds pile up in the public consciousness, it can be tempting to define the problem of Wal-Mart as one of a bad apple—a rogue company gone awry in an otherwise sound economic system.

Wal-Mart has indeed attained a scale that puts it in a category all its own, and there’s no question that it is leading a race to the bottom. But others are running that race too. Target’s wages are as poor and its health benefits as out of reach. Home Depot and Lowe’s have crushed thousands of independent hardware stores. Best Buy has its main sourcing office Shanghai, where it relies on the same dismal factories.

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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

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