A growing number of cities and towns are enacting policies that restrict the proliferation of "formula businesses" — stores and restaurants that have standardized services, décor, methods of operation, and other features that make them virtually identical to businesses elsewhere. More

Current federal policy exempts online and mail-order retailers from having to collect state and local sales taxes, giving them a sizable 4 to 9 percent price advantage over local stores.  Advocates of a level playing field are calling on Congress to remedy this inequity by passing the Main Street Fairness Act.  Meanwhile, New York state is leading the way in using existing state authority to require that large online retailers be subject to the same sales tax requirements as local businesses. More

The Federal Robinson-Patman Act prohibits manufacturers and suppliers from providing price discounts and other forms of preferential treatment to some buyers and not to others, if the effect of such discrimination is to lessen competition or injure individual competitors. Volume discounts are allowed only to the extent that they reflect actual differences in the cost of manufacture or sale of the product. More

A growing number of towns are inundated with chronically vacant big-box stores and shopping centers. Here's how to prevent big-box blight in your community. More

Dozens of communities, recognizing that their local economies can absorb only so much new retail without causing numerous existing businesses to close, have enacted zoning rules that prohibit stores over a certain size. Store size caps help to sustain the vitality of small-scale, pedestrian-oriented business districts, which in turn nurture local business development. More

While chain retailers and other large corporations have access to financing through the capital markets (which many of us help fund through our retirement plans and other investments), independent businesses have a much more challenging time securing financing.

Below we have assembled examples of the kinds of institutions and policies that are essential to financing new and expanding local businesses. We propose to: More

Providing tax breaks and other kinds of subsidies to attract or retain businesses has become increasingly common over the last twenty years. Wal-Mart, for example, has received over $1 billion in public subsidies from state and local governments, according to a recent report by Good Jobs First. More

These local and state policies require that the economic and fiscal impacts of proposed retail development projects be analyzed and evaluated before a project is approved. More

When used to off-set the high costs of redeveloping blighted sites in poor neighborhoods, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) can be an effective economic development tool. However, all too often, cities are using TIF to underwrite projects in affluent areas, to subsidize construction on undeveloped land, and to finance big-box retail. More

When making procurement decisions, many cities and states give preference to local businesses as a means to nurture small businesses and local economies. Some of these jurisdictions give a local preference only in the case of tie bids, but others give preference if a bid from a local business is within a certain percentage of the lowest non-local bid. Washington D.C., for example, by administrative practice gives a five percent preference to local firms. More

One U.S. state, North Dakota, and nearly a dozen European countries have laws that require that pharmacies be owned by pharmacists. These laws ensure that pharmacy services are controlled by local health care providers and not by distant corporations.  More

Corporations that produce and sell goods in multiple states are required to pay state income taxes based on the portion of their profits that can be attributed to each of the states in which they do business. More

Mail order pharmacy companies are expanding rapidly and capturing an ever larger share of prescription drug sales.  The growth in mail order has little to do with consumer preferences, but is driven instead by pharmacy benefit management companies, which manage prescription benefits for health insurers and often use economic incentives to coerce consumers into using a mail order pharmacy.  State and federal policy initiatives aim to level the playing field.   More

Several states have considered legislation that would impose a tax on large retailers.  None of these bills have passed yet, but we include two examples here.  One argument for taxing large retailers is that they impose costs on state and local government in the form of public assistance programs, such as a Medicaid, for low-wage big-box employees, as well as high infrastructure and services costs associated with sprawling development. More

Almost all federal economic development programs now have anti-piracy provisions, which bar aid to a company that is relocating from one state to another. A number of states have enacted similar measures. More

The drive for increased property tax revenue, and in some cases sales tax revenue, can lead local governments to make land use decisions that conflict with other planning and economic development goals. A community might reject much needed affordable housing in favor of expensive homes, for example, or forego office buildings with high-paying jobs in favor of big box retail stores with low-wage jobs, in anticipation of generating more tax revenue with a comparatively smaller burden on public services. More

In most states, cities can enact a moratorium on commercial development, provided that the moratorium promotes valid public purposes, is limited in duration, and is used for planning. A number of communities have temporarily suspended large-scale retail development in order to allow time to consider the impacts of superstores and to revise the local comprehensive plan and zoning code accordingly. More

There are two primary pieces of local land use policy: the comprehensive plan and the zoning code. The comprehensive plan is essentially a vision statement containing general guidelines for development in a local jurisdiction. The plan is then implemented through the zoning code. More

While franchises may have the uniform appearance of a chain store, many are in fact locally owned. Ideally, they can provide an opportunity for rootedness within a community while providing their owners with the economies of scale available to large corporate retail and service businesses. More

One way communities can ensure that redevelopment projects and new retail centers include locally owned businesses is to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the developer that stipulates how much of the project's retail space must be set aside for local businesses. More

The arrival of national chain stores often drives-up commercial rents, forcing out small, locally owned businesses that serve the everyday needs of the surrounding neighborhood. This typically occurs when a shopping area becomes a destination for tourists or others who live outside of the immediate area. More