Retail News

Death of the Category Killers

smitchell — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:42:32 -0500

Borders Books is on "death watch," according to one industry observer. Virgin shut down its last U.S. record store this month. Office Depot and Staples are struggling. Circuit City is gone. Best Buy has launched a desperate ad campaign.

While the decline of independent businesses has leveled off, the rest of the retail sector is undergoing dramatic consolidation as a small number of massive companies become ever more dominant. This is an ominous trend for manufacturers and consumers, and it exposes serious flaws in U.S. antitrust policy.

Wal-Mart to Create 22,000 Jobs — and Destroy Many Thousands More

smitchell — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:43:00 -0500

Last week, Wal-Mart announced that it would create 22,000 new jobs in the U.S. to staff new and expanded stores. More than 100 newspapers and magazines reported this news as a welcome bright spot amid the downturn. But had these news outlets turned to sources beyond Wal-Mart's press release and attempted to provide at least some analysis of the broader impact, the headlines might not have been so rosy.

In all likelihood, Wal-Mart's expansion will make the U.S. employment picture worse, not better. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that the addition of 22,000 jobs at Wal-Mart will lead to the loss of at least as many, and probably more, jobs at other businesses.

Pennsylvania Town Orders an Economic Impact Study of a Proposed Wal-Mart Store

jdahlheimer — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:56:59 -0500

Not content to accept Wal-Mart's own impact study, a citizens group in Exeter, PA, has persuaded its town council to order an independent community impact analysis of the proposed development.

Wal-Mart's Faulty Impact Report Leads California Judge to Block Project

jdahlheimer — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:31:25 -0500

A coalition of environmental and community groups are celebrating a recent San Bernardino County Superior Court judge's decision that invalidates Wal-Mart's environmental impact report (EIR), preventing a supercenter from locating in their community.

Judge Barry Plotkin spurned the faulty EIR, stating that the retail giant did not take adequate measures to mitigate its contribution to climate change and used a faulty market analysis when claiming the new store would have no negative impact on existing businesses.

South Dakota Town Creates Community-Owned Variety Store

christopher — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:30:13 -0500

When the small town of Clark, South Dakota, lost its last variety store, they had a choice: drive 40 minutes to a nearby town for basic supplies or pull together and jointly create a new, community-owned store. They pulled together.

[M]ore than 100 people in Clark have purchased $500 shares to finance the opening of the Clark Hometown Variety Store. The store will take the place of the Duckwall store, which was one of 20 underperforming stores parent company Duckwall-Alco Stores of Kansas closed in 2005.

Small Banks Are Healthy, But They Are Paying The Price of Big Bank Failures

dmorris — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:21:00 -0500

The nation's 7630 community banks have average assets of $150 million. The nation's four largest banks lost $13 billion in the last quarter of 2008. As a result community banks FDIC premiums will increase by 1000 percent.

Soaring Credit Card Transaction Fees Squeeze Independent Businesses

smitchell — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:09:46 -0500

Independent businesses are largely at the mercy of Visa and MasterCard when it comes to the fees they must pay every time they swipe a credit card. These fees, which are ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, have soared from $27 billion in 2004 to $48 billion last year (or $427 per household).

Recognizing the tremendous market power held by card processors, many countries now regulate credit card transaction fees, setting them at rates as low as one-sixth of what U.S. businesses pay.

Little Saigon Defeats Mega Development

jdahlheimer — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:57:15 -0500

Since 2005, residents and local business owners have been working to block this large retail development from spoiling their vibrant, walkable, urban neighborhood, which is home to many immigrant-owned small businesses.

In late April, the developer backed out.

New Tool Helps Low-Income Communities Evaluate Food Retailers

smitchell — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:59:49 -0500

The newly published Sustainable Food Retail Framework aims to help cities struggling with a lack of grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods better balance the need to quickly fill the gaps (a mandate that often favors large supermarket chains) with the advantages of fostering development that delivers more long-term stability and greater economic, community, and environmental benefits (a framework that favors local business).

Canadian City Council Rejects Wal-Mart's Bid to Expand

jdahlheimer — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:00:13 -0500

Owen Sound, Ontario — Sticking up for its downtown businesses, the Owen Sound City Council derailed Wal-Mart’s plans to expand a current store into a supercenter.