Retail Articles and Commentaries

Why Does Congress want me to Shun my Local Bookstore and Shop Online Instead?

smitchell — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:05:27 -0600

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.

A New Deal for Local Economies

smitchell — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:05:24 -0600

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.

Neighborhood Stores: An Overlooked Strategy for Fighting Global Warming

smitchell — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:59:07 -0500

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...

"Buy Local” Helps Main Street Merchants and Other Independents Survive Recession

smitchell — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:04:26 -0500

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.

The Corporate Co-Opt of Local

smitchell — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:52:44 -0500

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."

Are Buy Local Campaigns Baseless Sloganeering by Smug Elites? Our Response.

smitchell — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:17:27 -0500

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

Big, Empty Box

smitchell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:07:15 -0600

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.

Sharp Rise in Shopping Center Vacancies

smitchell — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:34:00 -0500

Shopping center construction continues at a furious pace, even as chain retailers announce plans to close more than 6,500 outlets and vacancy rates soar.

Low Prices, But at what Cost?

smitchell — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:22:00 -0500

The economic model followed by Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers is no boon for the middle class.

Katherine Kersten tries to represent Wal-Mart as a hero of working families. But what Wal-Mart has saved poor and middle-income Americans -- and there's reason to doubt the depth and durability of the discounts Kersten cites -- it has taken that and more from them in diminished job opportunities and reduced income.

It's not just Wal-Mart. Rather, it's the economic model that Wal-Mart perfected and that others, including Home Depot and Target, also follow.

Bigger Bang from Independents' Bucks

admin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:19:27 -0500

The Capital Region's future would be much better served by fostering the growth of locally owned businesses, rather than chasing after big-name national retailers, as was suggested in Chris Churchill's May 11 article, "Trendsetter shops bypass region."

Research shows local businesses deliver significantly greater economic returns for a community than national chains. A study conducted in Chicago by the firm Civic Economics found that every $100 spent at a national chain generated an average of $43 in additional economic activity in the local area. That same $100 spent at a locally owned store or restaurant created an average of $68 worth of new local economic activity.

Why do local businesses deliver so much more economic bang for our buck?