Retail News

An annual survey has found that independent businesses had strong sales growth over the holidays and appear to be benefitting from growing public interest in supporting locally owned retail stores, banks, restaurants, and other enterprises.

The survey, which was conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in partnership with several business associations, gathered data from 1,768 independent businesses across 49 states over an 8-day period in January. More

This is the eighth article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here.

Walmart has become the most powerful force in the U.S. food system, selling 25 percent of our groceries and growing fast. Watch for this expansion to lead to fewer neighborhood grocery stores, more industrialization, more poverty, and maybe even more moldy produce. More

Walmart talks a lot about sustainability, but doesn't put its campaign money anywhere near where its mouth is. Its contributions tilt heavily toward politicians who oppose climate action and environmental protection.

During the 2007-2008 election cycle, 80 percent of Senate campaign contributions that came from Walmart's PAC and large donors employed by the company went to senators who helped block the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill.  More

This is the sixth article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here.

Walmart talks big about cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but it's land-use strategy is anything but climate-friendly: It builds massive new stores on virgin land in sprawling areas, then abandons them in favor of still newer, still bigger stores.

  More

This is the fifth article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here.

In 2009, Walmart unveiled grand plans to create a Sustainability Index that would, within five years, result in green labels for all the products it sells. Two and a half years later, the project has fallen far short and seems unlikely to ever deliver a green rating system. Nor is there much evidence that greener products are edging out more damaging ones on Walmart's shelves. More

This is the fourth article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here.

Six years ago, Walmart announced that it was setting a goal of being "supplied by 100 percent renewable energy," a goal that has been repeated in thousands of newspaper articles and countless blog posts.  What if, rather than repeating Walmart's stated goal of 100 percent renewable power, these news stories had instead reported that the company currently derives less than 2 percent of its electricity from its solar projects and wind-power purchases? That's not a figure Walmart has published, and journalists have done little to bring it to light. At its current pace of converting to renewables, it would take Walmart about 300 years to get to 100 percent clean power. More

This is the third article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here.

Chairs don’t hold together like they used to. Neither do toys, toasters, vacuum cleaners, or Levi's. Walmart, with its relentless demands that manufacturers cut costs, has been a major force in making our products shoddier -- and that has us heading back to the store more often to buy still more stuff. More

Under a measure that passed the House last Thursday, you may soon be able to invest in a portfolio of your favorite independent businesses. The bill, which won bipartisan support and cleared the House on a 407-17 vote, would overturn long-standing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules that make it nearly impossible for small businesses to raise capital (or borrow money) from their customers and communities. More

Our Harper's Index-style look at Walmart's impact. 

This is the second article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here. More

This is the first article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here.

The world's biggest retailer has gotten lots of great press since it launched its sustainability campaign six years ago, but in many key areas it hasn't actually gotten greener. It's pumping out more CO2, paving over more land, and selling more flimsy products than ever before. In this Grist special series, ILSR's Stacy Mitchell takes a hard look at Walmart's real environmental impact. More