Retail Articles and Commentaries

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which describes itself as "the voice of business" and is widely considered to be the most influential lobbying group in Washington,  insists that its political activities serve the interests of American business in the broadest sense.  But a growing number of small independent businesses and even local chambers are challenging that notion, arguing that the Chamber's real allegiance is to the giant corporations that fund it.  More

The two groups that have traditionally spoken for small business in Washington often push an agenda that only big business could love, writes the New Rules Project's Stacy Mitchell in this commentary for Business Week.

For six years, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has tried to give a tax cut to businesses in his state. And year after year the Democratic governor's proposal has been stymied by a surprising foe: the state's business lobby.  More

Securing a loan to open a new independent bookstore in Brooklyn looked like a long shot even before the financial crisis. After the meltdown, it seemed downright impossible. Then business partners Jessica Stockton Bagnulo and Rebecca Fitting hit on an idea: they turned to neighbors and future customers to help finance the business, raising $70,000 in small loans over a few months.  Just as CSAs have played a key role in the rebirth of small-scale farms, so too may these new community-supported enterprise models help launch a new generation of independent grocers, bookstores, and other neighborhood businesses. More

By exempting internet retailers like Amazon.com from collecting sales taxes, lawmakers provide a substantial financial incentive for people to bypass local businesses and shop online instead.

Over the years, there have been four primary arguments made in favor of this inequitable policy. None of them stand up. More

In this lecture, delivered at the Bristol Schumacher Conference in Great Britain, Stacy Mitchell proposes a set of new rules — policies that would foster local self-reliance and refashion the economy for long-term viability. 

Scattered here and there, the seeds of a new economy are taking root.  Locally grown food has soared in popularity.  Farmers markets are multiplying.  Support for independent retailers is on the rise.  But despite these promising shifts, local businesses are likely to remain on the economic margins without fundamental changes in public policy.  More

So far, the public debate about cars and climate change has been dominated by fuel economy. But driving has been growing at such a rapid pace that even a big advance in fuel economy is likely to be wiped out by ever more miles on the road.

This is where local stores come in.  Dozens of studies have found that people who live near small stores walk more for errands and, when they do drive, their trips are shorter. And that’s not all... More

A growing body of evidence suggests that public enthusiasm for all things local and independent is on the rise, providing locally owned businesses with a measure of insulation from the worst effects of the recession, even as some of their biggest competitors teeter and collapse.

In January 2009, a national survey conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, in partnership with several organizations, found that, in an extremely challenging economic climate, independent retailers as a group are outperforming many chains.  Anecdotal reports from around the country provide further evidence that these grassroots efforts to build support for local businesses are indeed changing people's shopping habits.  More

HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself "the world's local bank."  Starbucks is un-branding at least three of its Seattle outlets, the first of which just reopened as "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea." Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain, recently launched a new ad campaign under the tagline, "Local flavor since 1956." The International Council of Shopping Centers, a global consortium of mall owners and developers, is pouring millions of dollars into television ads urging people to "Shop Local" — at their nearest mall. Even Wal-Mart is getting in on the act, hanging bright green banners over its produce aisles that simply say, "Local." More

Our response to an op-ed that attempts to discredit Buy Local campaigns. More

Abandoned big-box stores, dead and dying strip malls and empty storefronts are about to join foreclosed houses as one of the defining features of the American landscape in 2009.

Within a few months, more than one-eighth of the country's retail space will be sitting vacant, according to some estimates. That's about 1.4 billion square feet, or 50 square miles, of empty store space, ringed by roughly 150 square miles of useless parking lot.

It will be tempting to blame the weak economy for all of this wreckage. But the recession has merely been the trigger. This avalanche of vacant retail, much like the mortgage crisis, has been a long time in the making. More